


Beneath the Sheets of Paper

by missberrycake



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Crossover, Gryffindor!Harry, Gryffindor!Niall, Harry Potter - Freeform, Harry Potter Next Generation, Hogwarts, Hufflepuff!Liam, M/M, Mentions of homophobia, Ravenclaw!Zayn, Syltherin!Louis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-02
Updated: 2014-06-02
Packaged: 2018-02-03 04:38:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 55,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1731413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missberrycake/pseuds/missberrycake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Harry Styles is about to start his fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. While his best friends Liam, Niall and Zayn battle with the trials and tribulations of another school year, it’s all Harry can do not to fall head over heels for Slytherin prefect Louis Tomlinson. Harry soon comes to realise that discovering Louis was a far greater piece of magic than anything Hogwarts could teach him. Magic, though, is not always what it seems …</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly, writing a successful Harry Potter fanfic has been on my list of ‘things to do before I die’ since approximately 2004. The fact that it also happens to be a One Direction fic? I have no explanation other than my alarming lack of resolve.
> 
> I’ve changed the names of everyone’s families, purely because this feels so AU to me, that I didn’t see the need to use the real ones. Also, I can characterise people as utter bastards and not feel guilty about it! Win-win. I’d like to add that I’ve never met any of the members of One Direction, so have absolutely zero idea what they’re really like. I’ve probably (read: definitely) got their personalities’ way off. C'est une fiction.
> 
> And finally, God bless J. K. Rowling. If it wasn’t for her, I don’t think I would’ve read a single book.

_You might belong in Gryffindor,_

_Where dwell the brave at heart,_

_Their daring, nerve and chivalry,_

_Set Gryffindors apart._

“Harry? Harry who? You’ll have to give me a bit more to go on. Every mother’s son’s called ‘Harry’ these days.”

Harry sighed at the man behind the counter. Maybe he was being over-dramatic, but this was a conversation he’d had countless times before. “Styles,” he said tersely. “Harry Styles. I’m here to collect my new broom. The Comet 320? I reserved it last week.”

The man looked at him for a long moment before he flicked his wrist, summoning a long scroll of parchment to the counter. “Right,” he said, examining the long list of ornately written names. Harry stared at the man’s bald patch as he bent over the parchment. “Ah, yes. Master Styles, Comet 320, yes, yes. That will be a hundred and ninety five galleons, please.”

After handing over the money Harry left the shop, stepping out onto the crowded path of Diagon Alley and clutching his new broom tightly to his chest. He stopped short on the cobbled street to let a babble of small children pass, all of whom were nattering animatedly about buying their first wands. Harry smiled at their excited voices as he headed back to the pub. He certainly wasn’t a hysterical first year any more but he couldn’t ignore the anticipation building inside him when he thought about the new school term starting.

He was about to enter his fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Four years ago he’d been impatiently awaiting his letter from Headmistress Turnstone with ill grace. He hadn’t been nervous about its arrival, it was clear to everyone around him that he had an abundance of magical ability, but he had so desperately wanted to start at Hogwarts. Georgina, his sister, had taunted him with stories about the castle, the lessons and the grounds for the previous two years and he was simply running out of patience.

His mother understood. She’d grown up in a magical household, had attended Hogwarts herself and so had done her best to cater for Harry’s excitement. His father however had ultimately been baffled by the entire thing, much as he had been with Georgie. In an attempt to distract Harry from The Long Wait, his dad had taken him on a fishing trip. He was quite used to his dad’s quaint Muggle ways by this point, however all the trip had managed to achieve was a slight souring of Harry’s opinion of fishing for a good number of years and the loss of one of his dad’s favourite fishing rods.

Nevertheless, The Long Wait finally came to an end and Harry arrived at Hogwarts, grin permanently plastered on his face, bouncing around between different groups of first years, determined to make as many friends as possible. He’d been overjoyed when he was placed in Gryffindor, the house his mother and sister had been in. He’d jumped head first into his classes and had quickly made a firm friend in fellow Gryffindor Niall Horan. Together they’d recruited Liam Payne and Zayn Malik into their group, and the four of them had been inseparable ever since.

Harry smiled to himself as he stepped into The Leaky Cauldron. He couldn’t quite believe he’d been best mates with those guys for four years, so much had happened in that time.

“Harry.” He heard his name yelled across the busy pub. A few heads turned towards him in a rush, only to be disappointed when it became apparent he wasn’t  _the famous_  Harry. Contrary to what everyone seemed to think, he hadn’t been named after Harry Potter, it was simply a name that his dad had loved. That hadn’t been much comfort to Harry though, who’d been teased throughout his life for it.

“Harry,” the voice repeated. After a few seconds examining the crowd, Harry spotted Zayn waving at him from the corner. “Over here, mate.”

He grinned and weaved his way over.

“Zayn, buddy, how are you?” he said. He nodded to Zayn’s mother and little sister, Deema, who were sitting at the small table as well. “Hello. Nice to see you again.”

“Hello Harry,” Mrs Malik replied. She gathered her things. “Come on, Dee. Let’s leave the boys to it, we still have to get your wand.” She turned to Zayn, “We’ll see you back here in an hour, okay?”

“Yep. See you, mum,” Zayn waved them off. “So, how’s things? Did you hear Liam’s big news?” he smirked at Harry.

Harry had heard Liam’s ‘big news’. Their friend had texted him last week in a mad panic about it.

_'HARRY!!! SEND HELP! THEYVE MADE ME PREFECT!! I cant be prefect. I don’t even no what the school moto is- something about dragons?? Do it for me.’_

Harry had laughed to himself for a full five minutes when he’d read the message, before replying. He’d explained that, as much as he’d like to help, he couldn’t be prefect for Liam as he wasn’t a Hufflepuff.

It was just like Liam to panic over the responsibility of being made prefect, though. Liam was one of the most earnest people Harry had ever met. When Niall had introduced him to Harry in first year, the Hufflepuff boy had been so nice, so genuine that Harry decided it would be physically impossible not to like him.

Unlike Harry, who was a half-blood, Liam and Zayn were both Muggle-borns. Liam’s older sister Rachael was going into her final year and had been sorted into Ravenclaw, the same house as Zayn. It was clear from the start that Liam was upset he hadn’t been put in Ravenclaw too, but he never made a fuss. Liam had always been incredibly grateful for his position at Hogwarts, possibly more so than any other Muggle-born there. Liam’s other sister, Natalie, hadn’t received a letter on her eleventh birthday, it turned she wasn’t magical enough. So when Liam had been offered a place at the school, he understood the value of it. Harry always admired him for that.

“Yeah, he mentioned it,” Harry replied to Zayn. “Niall said that Ed and Jesy got it for Gryffindor. Who made it in yours, do you know?” he asked, waving to the barman for a Butterbeer.

Zayn leant back in his chair, “I saw Jade in Florish and Blotts. She said it went to Leigh-Anne and Rollo.”

“Rollo Fowler? Figures.” Harry gave Zayn a discerning look, “You’re not bothered then, that it wasn’t you?”

Zayn scoffed, “Not bloody likely.” He smiled. “Nah, just means I’ll have more time to concentrate on my work. It’s gonna be tougher this year, what with the O.W.L.s and all. Besides, it’s a bit of a drag, isn’t it?”

Harry laughed, “You know, you’re the only person in the year cool enough to handle being such a nerd.”

Zayn smirked and raised his eyebrows at the barman who’d just delivered Harry’s drink.

It was true, though, Harry thought as he took a sip. Zayn deserved to be in Ravenclaw, there was no doubt about it. He was incredibly clever and he worked hard for it, but he also managed to maintain an alarming level of quintessential coolness about him. He could be ditching you for a library session one minute and the next be reprimanding you for not being up for a spot of ‘who can get the closest to the Whomping Willow’.

“Yeah well, it comes naturally to some of us,” Zayn said. He pointed to Harry’s new broom, all wrapped up in brown paper. “Flashing your money about, then?”

Harry coughed, “Maybe. Mum gave me a little towards it, ‘cause I did so well in my exams. It’s only a Comet but I reckon it’ll do better than that God awful Cleansweep I was on last year.”

Zayn hummed. He wasn’t as bothered with Quidditch as the rest of the wizarding world seemed to be, but he’d had to start to feign interest last year when Harry got recruited as Beater for the Gryffindor house team.

Harry leant forward, “Poll Soller got captain this year, she sent me a letter.” He bit his lip before asking, lightly, “I don’t suppose you know who the new Ravenclaw captain is, now Hawkley’s left?”

Zayn’s mouth split into a wide grin, “You’ll have to wake up earlier than that, Styles, to get past me.” Harry groaned. “I may not be the epitome of house pride but even I know it’s more than my life’s worth to go betraying Quidditch secrets to the other side.” His eyes twinkled with laughter.

“Fine, whatever.” Harry nudged Zayn’s foot with his own, “I’ll finish this and we can head over to the Weasleys’, yeah? My reusable hangman has died it’s last death.”

~

“Come on, Danny. We’ve only got five minutes left,” Harry’s mum snapped at his dad.

Harry and Georgie shared a look. His mum, dad and sister had all come to see him off at platform nine and three quarters, Georgie even though she had graduated last year. In an unwelcomed change to the norm, they were running late.

“Alright, Harry,” his mum said, breathlessly. “You and Georgie go on, I’ll bring your father through with me.”

It was at that point Daniel Styles let out an indignant ‘humph’. “I do not need to be  _brought_  anywhere, Alice. Every year you do this, just because I don’t wave a wand about, you think …”

Harry rolled his eyes. “Here we go,” he murmured. He turned to his parents, voice loud, “We’ll see you on the other side, then.” He took Georgie’s arm and they both ran head first into the brick wall that hid the entrance to the platform.

Immediately the smell of steam and parchment and  _magic_  filled his nostrils. He could barely contain his desire just to jump onto the train straight away. He waited through. He let his dad help load his suitcase and his tawny owl, Edmund’s, cage. He let his mum attempt to flatten his hair and straighten his jacket. He let his sister mess his hair up again and give him a short hug. And then he climbed on board.

As the Hogwarts Express pulled away from the station, he leant his entire upper body out of the window and waved to his family, who were getting smaller and smaller on the platform. After they’d vanished entirely he clambered awkwardly down the train, having to flatten himself against the wall on several occasions to let others pass him. Eventually he found the carriage he was looking for.

As several of his friends had been made prefects that year, they would be riding up front in the prefects’ carriage. There was still a group of them, though, that had found a compartment together.

“Harry!”

Harry beamed as he slid open the compartment door and was immediately embraced by Niall, all energy and smiles and delight. Harry laughed, “Alright, man?” squeezing the other boy tightly for several long seconds. Niall muttered something into Harry’s neck, but Harry couldn’t understand it at all.

Looking over Niall’s shoulder he saw that several other Gryffindors, Jesy Nelson and twins Castor and Pollox Soller, were filling the seats. Zayn was also there, squashed next to the window, and Jesy’s Hufflepuff friend Jade smiled politely over to him when he sat down into one of only two remaining seats next to her.

“Hey, gang,” he joked. They all mumbled vaguely in return, looking tired.

Niall dropped into the spot next to Harry. “You, mate, are never, never ever, going to guess what happened to me over the summer,” he said, eyes wide.

“Aren’t I?” Harry asked, pointlessly.

“Never ever.” And Niall was off, talking so fast that Harry almost lost track straight away.

Niall was a pure-blood and his family had been in Gryffindor house for generations. He’d never really had much contact with Muggles, or even Muggle-borns, as he was growing up. Harry always cited that as a reason why, when he spoke, Niall often glossed over things that would make the average person gasp, while exclaiming at perfectly ordinary occurrences. One fine example of this was in the summer after second year, when Harry went to stay with Niall’s family for a week, Niall had spent several hours waxing poetic about a dishwasher he’d come across the day before. It was all part of his undeniable charm, really.

“… and  _then_  she just got on the plane! Like, she just walked onto it and it flew! It actually  _flew_  away, can you believe that?” Niall stared at him, impressed smile lighting up his face.

Harry grinned, “Just about.” Zayn sniggered from the corner and Harry settled down further in his seat.

The majority of the journey unfolded in a gentle, lazy manner. The food trolley came and went, and soon it was time for them all to change into their school robes. There was a flash of red, yellow and blue while everyone pulled their robes out of their trunks.

The girls, Jesy, Jade and Poll, yelled loudly when the boys began to change. “Turn around!” Jesy demanded. “Close your eyes and turn around. We’ll tell you when it’s safe.”

Niall sighed a deep sigh. “One day,” he muttered, turning and glaring at the compartment door.

Not long after that Harry went to stretch his legs. He wondered aimlessly down the train, eyes travelling over the inhabitants of the compartments he passed. The late evening sun beat down on him through the windows and he smiled as he saw Liam striding down the corridor towards him, Hufflepuff robes in impeccable form, looking flustered.

“Perfect prefect Payne!”

Liam’s face relaxed into a welcoming smile. “Harry! Hello mate, how are you?”

“All the better for seeing your face.” He nodded over Liam’s shoulder, “How is it, then? Remember, with great power comes great –”

“– Responsibility. Yes, don’t remind me. I’ve already had to confiscate an Electric Shock Shake from a second year. She was going to use it on Timmy McCredie.”

Harry frowned. Timmy was a tiny second year Gryffindor who tended to attract a certain amount of bullying.

“Oh, Christ,” Liam groaned as a crashing noise erupted behind where Harry stood. “Now it’s something else. I’ll see you at the feast, alright man?” Liam rushed out, speeding away.

Harry laughed at his retreating form and moved further down the train. He nodded and smiled, pausing occasionally at people he knew before being flagged down into a compartment by Glendon Horan, Niall’s older brother. Glendon was in seventh year and, although a fellow Gryffindor, was the antithesis of Niall himself. Sharp as a tack and somewhat aloof, Harry often wondered at the idea that he and Niall were related. He was still kind though, it seemed it was impossible for a Horan to be anything other.

“Styles,” Glendon greeted him. “Is Niall in with you? Can you give him this? Mum must’ve packed it in my trunk by mistake.”

He looked down at the green and yellow Kenmare Kestrels throw Glendon held in his outstretched arms. “Oh, yeah,” he started, putting his phone aside and taking the blanket. He always found it hard, going cold turkey on technology when he returned to Hogwarts, constantly fiddling with his iPod and phone for weeks after they stopped working. “Would’ve been tears at bedtime if he couldn’t find this,” Harry joked.

By now the sun had set and Harry made his way back to his compartment.

“The wonderer returns,” said Niall, watching Harry step through the doorway.

Zayn pointed out of the window, “Just in time, too.”

Harry squinted and spotted the dark outline of Hogwarts castle in the distance. “Cool,” he said. “Saw your brother near the front. This is yours.” He held out the blanket and Niall grabbed it.

“Oh, cheers.”

When the train pulled into Hogsmeade Station they all gathered their things together. Harry was about to step off the train behind Niall and Zayn when he stuck his hand in his pocket and noticed his phone was missing. He’d left it in Glendon’s compartment.

Mentally cursing himself, he rushed out, “I’ll see you at the gates,” before hurrying back to the front of the train. Embarrassingly relieved to find his phone on the side of the seat where he left it, he shoved it in his pocket with his wand. Turning to the train door, a movement in the corner of his eye attracted his attention. The train was practically deserted now, apart from Harry and what appeared to be a tiny owl trying to escape out of the closed window.

Harry stepped forward quickly, cooing, “Alright little buddy, we’ll get you out of this pickle.” The little owl blinked at him dejectedly and flapped down to perch on his shoulder. He reached up to the window latch and shoved it open. Cool air hit him immediately and the owl hooted gently before flying up, out of the window and towards the castle.

He was staring at the spot where the owl had vanished when he heard the external doors of the train being slammed shut. “Oh, Merlin,” he gasped, darting towards the nearest exit and muttering apologetically to the station attendant as he jumped onto the empty platform.

“Shit. Shitting bollocks,” Harry let out a string of curses under his breath, cloak billowing behind him as he ran towards the gates of Hogsmeade Station. He ploughed straight into the gates themselves, panting and sweating, and grimaced when he raised his eyes to see someone in a green and silver uniform greeting him. A prefect’s badge twinkled at him in the starlight. A Slytherin, he thought miserably. Bloody typical. He was bound to get points deducted from him now. “Before you start, man, I can explain,” he said, voice thin. “There was this tiny owl in one of the compartments, right? And it had been forgotten –”

“Is it just you?”

“Sorry?” Harry asked. He looked up for the first time, still panting slightly, to focus on the Slytherin prefect’s face. The boy staring back at him, eyebrows raised in a question, was a few inches shorter than Harry and had a small smile threatening his features.

“Are you by yourself?” The prefect pointed to the carriage behind him. “There’s only room for one more.”

Harry felt completely wrong-footed. He’d never had a Slytherin be anything other than thoroughly unpleasant to him before and certainly not one that was so cute. “Oh, um, yes. Just me. Single pringle.”

The prefect sent a confused look his way and Harry inwardly cringed. He often forgot that not everyone at Hogwarts had a working understanding of the Muggle world and if he was a Slytherin, this boy probably wouldn’t.

“Okay.” The prefect swung the carriage door open and said brightly, “Jump up.”

Harry clambered up the steps, taking care to keep his cloak from getting trapped in the door. He nodded at the other passengers, who were all gazing back at him in obvious boredom. He turned back to the Slytherin boy, “Did you need to ride too? I can make room.”

“No, don’t trouble yourself. I’ll walk,” the boy said simply, shrugging. “I’m not important, nobody’ll miss me if I’m a little late.”

Harry was about to respond when the carriage jerked into motion, “Oh, okay. Um, thanks, then.” As the carriage trundled up the path Harry looked back to the small figure, disappearing into the distance, and pulled his cloak tighter around his shoulders. He wondered why he hadn’t noticed the prefect before. For a Slytherin, he thought to himself, he was actually pretty nice.

Later, when he was settled at the Gryffindor house table, Harry leant forward on his elbows to get a better look at the first years walking up to the front to get sorted.

“Bless,” he laughed as one of the small ones tripped on the hem of his cloak. “They’re so wee. They get smaller every year, I swear.”

“I don’t know what you’re laughing at, Styles,” Jesy whispered from across the table. “You were the most ridiculously adorable eleven year old about. It’s the only reason I became friends with you. God knows what’s going on with you now.” She waved her hand in Harry’s general direction. He sent a mock look of offence over to her before turning back to watch Anthony Abdella get sorted into Hufflepuff.

It went on for a while, with the sorting hat shouting out the new students’ houses in its shrill voice, “HUFFLEPUFF. GRYFFINDOR. GRYFFINDOR. SYLTHERIN. HUFFLEPUFF. RAVENCLAW.”

Then, Professor Debussy called out a name that piqued everyone’s interest. “Malfoy, Scorpius,” she said, word’s ringing clearly around the hall. A curious silence fell across the room. Everyone knew about the Malfoy’s and the role they’d played in Voldemort’s uprising, but part of Harry hoped that perhaps it might be different now.

“Maybe Ravenclaw?” he whispered to nobody in particular.

The small blond boy sat on the stool and Professor Debussy lowered the sorting hat on to his head. There was a beat of silence before, “SLYTHERIN.”

Murmurs broke out across the hall. “They claim another one, then,” Niall muttered next to Harry’s ear. Harry hummed and watched as Scorpius walked over to the Slytherin table at the far end of the room. Harry recognised the boy that he sat down next to as the prefect he’d met earlier. So he made it back in time, he thought.

He turned to Ed, who was sitting on his other side, and nudged him, “Hey, what’s the name of the Slytherin prefect? The guy? Have you met him?” As the new Gryffindor prefect, Ed had spent most of the train ride up in a meeting with the rest of them.

“What’s that, which year we talking?” Ed asked, turning in his seat to glance at the Slytherin table.

Harry shrugged, “I don’t know. He looked about our age.”

"Well, the sixth year is Melor Ulanov.” Ed brought his arms out in front of his chest, hands clenched in fists, “Great hulking bloke.” The impression, coupled with Ed’s red hair and round face made a rather amusing sight.

Harry smiled, shaking his head. “Nah, don’t reckon I mean him.” The boy he’d met was far too slight for that.

“Well then, the newbie is Louis Tomlinson,” Ed carried on, rubbing his jaw.  _Louis_ , Harry thought. It suited him. “He’s Quentin Tomlinson’s brother, you know?”

Harry did know, his ego was still recovering from the bashing Gryffindor had received from him and the rest of the Slytherin Quidditch team last year. “Oh, yeah. The old Seeker?” He craned his neck to get another look at Louis. “Hang about, didn’t he used to be on the team as well?” Harry suddenly remembered seeing the boy flying across the pitch from where he used to watch in the stands.

Niall nodded, clearing having been following the conversation. His face was smashed against his hand where he was leaning against the table, “Yeah, but he was ill last year, I think. Something like that, you haven’t played against him.” Niall pulled a face, “He’s quite good actually, if it’s him I’m thinking of. Chaser. Got on to the team in second year.”

Jesy clicked her fingers, “Hey, ain’t his mother a Rosier?”

Ed grumbled, dark expression travelling across his usually cheerful face. “Yeah,” he said. “Think they keep that pretty quiet, though.”

Niall hit Harry on the arm, sitting forward. “Eyes forward, Deema’s up.” Harry spared Louis one last look before turning to the front to watch Zayn’s little sister get sorted.

“RAVENCLAW.”

Harry clapped his hands, looking over to Zayn and giving a thumbs up. Zayn smiled over from his seat on the Ravenclaw table. Harry watched as he gave his sister a small wave and a big grin.

“Ah, bloody typical,” Niall moaned. “Why don’t we get any of the clever ones?”

Ed shoved him playfully, ruffling his hair, “Speak for yourself.”

Harry paused for a moment, debating whether to draw more attention to his new found interest in Louis Tomlinson. He tried to sound as casual as possible as he asked, “Have you spoken to him?”

Ed stopped, letting go of Niall and shrugging, “Not really. I supposed he was civil enough at the prefect’s briefing.” He narrowed his eyes, “Why? Is he giving you gyp?”

“No,” Harry said lightly. “Not at all. I just didn’t recognise him.”

“Yeah. Keeps himself to himself mostly, I think. You must know him though, Harry, we’ve had classes with him.”

Harry frowned, trying to remember seeing Louis in lessons. Before he had any luck Jesy flapped her hands at them all, “Ssh, the new Potter kid’s getting up.”

“What’s this one’s name? Albert? Alfred?” Ed teased. Harry smirked when Jesy scowled at him. Jesy was obsessed with all things Potter. Harry’d had to physically restrain her last year when James Potter had been sorted into Gryffindor. Now James’ younger brother Albus was at Hogwarts he could only imagine her getting ten times worse.

Once again the sound of quiet muttering rippled through the hall. “Poor kid,” Harry said, lowly. “I’d hate to have everyone talking about me like that all the time. He looks bloody terrified.”

“You’d love the attention, Styles. Don’t lie to your betters,” Ed scoffed.

“Not like that I wouldn’t. Nobody’s interested in  _him,_ it’s like he’s a prize trophy or something.”

They all watched as the dark haired boy was engulfed by the sorting hat when it was lowered on to his head. Harry looked over to where Jesy was biting her lip, both of her fingers crossed. He smiled at her.

The sorting hat’s yell came a second later, “SLYTHERIN.”

The hall burst into life, nobody even bothering to hide their shock. Jesy’s face fell as Niall gaped, “Merlin’s beard.”

Ed cackled, “Well, I did not see that one coming.”

Harry shook his head, baffled. He heard boos coming from behind him and turned to see Liam whacking one of the younger Hufflepuffs over the head, who’d apparently been making the noise. Harry caught his eye and raised his eyebrows as Liam mouthed, “Bit of a surprise?” Harry leant around Ed to get a better view. He could see James Potter standing up nearer the front, a look of shock and confusion on his face. Albus shuffled over to the Slytherin table, eyes glued to the floor, and sat down next to Scorpius Malfoy. Neither of them spoke to each other.

“That could be interesting,” Niall said, turning back to the dwindling crowd of first years.

As everyone’s attention went back to the front Harry’s lingered on the Slytherin table. He watched as Louis leant over and spoke to Albus. Harry had no idea what he was saying, but his features were soft and Albus was nodding gently. Louis made to sit back in his seat, as he did so his gaze travelled across to the Gryffindor table and right to where Harry was staring at him. Harry blushed when their eyes met, immediately turning around on the bench to face Jesy. 

He rolled his eyes in despair of himself and spent the rest of the Sorting fiddling with his wand or artfully avoiding looking over to the Slytherin table. By the time ‘Granger-Weasley, Rose’ had been sorted into Gryffindor Harry was more than ready for the feast to start. 

~ 

Upon receiving their timetables for the year on Monday morning, Harry and Niall immediately ran over to the Ravenclaw table to compare their classes with Zayn. 

“Gimme. Gimme, gimme,” Harry said, not bothering with a hello. He waggled his fingers at Zayn until the other boy relented and handed over his timetable. Niall and Harry instantly put their heads together to examine it, as Zayn himself returned to slowly spooning cereal into his mouth.

“Aw, this is awful,” Niall moaned as they both scanned the parchment. “We’ve only got Charms and Defence Against the Dark Arts together. I  _need_ you in Divination with me. And what am I supposed to do in Astrology, now? Have you thought about that?”

Zayn swallowed his mouthful, “We’ve still got Transfiguration together. All hope is not lost. And I don’t actually have ultimate control over the timetable, just so you know. I’m not quite as all power as you seem to think.”

Niall scoffed and waved at Liam as he walked over. He’d brought Perrie with him, the other Hufflepuff prefect. Niall nudged Harry in the ribs with a smirk. Zayn had fancied Perrie since second year but had never made a move. Apparently he valued their friendship too much. Harry suspected it had more to do with Zayn’s overwhelming fear of failure, but he kept that to himself.

“Hello boys,” she said brightly, stealing Zayn’s glass of pumpkin juice.

“Please, please Zayn, tell me we have Potions together,” Liam said as he dropped down next to Niall, dramatically. “I cannot face that dungeon without you. I will not.”

“You know,” Zayn said with a small frown. “I’m not one hundred percent sure, but I think I resent the fact that you guys only want to have lessons with me so you can copy my work. If you actually paid attention–”

“Hey!” Harry interrupted, tone mocking. “I do pay attention. My friendship with you is based on your acerbic sense of humour and your acerbic sense of humour alone. Any other traits that you have, be that intelligence or a heart of gold, or even your romantic soul, are completely irrelevant.”

He grinned as Niall joined in, “Yeah, and so what if I reckon you’d be a gentle and attentive lover? That’s not what I’m here for. I –”

“Okay,” Zayn stopped them short, cheeks flushed. Harry laughed. “I think that’s enough for now. Yes, Liam. We do have Potions together.” Harry watched as Zayn sent a short glance over to Perrie, who was biting down on a smile. Zayn coughed and returned to his now soggy cereal.

Perrie looked over Liam’s shoulder, “And we have Divination together. First thing this morning.” She smiled over to Zayn, “I’ll see you there, then?”

Zayn nodded and mumbled, mouth full, as Perrie left. Harry, Liam and Niall all turned to him, smiles wide as he simply glared back at them.

While Liam and Niall helped themselves to breakfast, the post arrived. There wasn’t much of it, as it was only the first morning, but Harry watched as a handful of owls flew around the cloudy sky of the Great Hall ceiling. Most of what they were delivering, he suspected, were items that their owners had forgotten to pack. His eyes were drawn to the Slytherin table where Albus Potter was opening a letter, his expression the very picture of abject misery.

Harry sighed and shoved his plate of toast to one side, pulling Zayn and Liam’s timetables towards him.

“Whatcha doing?” Liam asked.

Harry bit his lip, forehead scrunched up in concentration. “I’m trying,” he said, “to figure out what we have with the Slytherins this year.”

Niall moaned, “Okay, then. Lay it on me. What’s the damage?”

“Alright, you sure you’re ready? It’s Astronomy,” Harry started. Niall nodded sombrely. “Divination.” He bit his lip. “Potions.” He groaned. “And finally,” Harry carried on, “Oh, Niall. I’m sorry, mate. It’s Muggle Studies.”

“Oh, flying flobberworms. That’s the worst yet,” Niall said, slumping onto the table.

Liam rolled his eyes, “Don’t be so dramatic, Horan. It’s not that bad, they’re just people.”

“Don’t ‘Horan’ me, Payne. It’s that idiot Wren. I swear he had a confundus charm put on him as a baby or something, he hasn’t got a clue.”

Harry couldn’t disagree. Marcus Wren was one of the dimmest, most cruel people he’d ever had the misfortune to meet. He couldn’t help feeling a little swirl of happiness, though, when he thought of all the time he would have in class with Louis.

“Well,” Harry said, standing up and pulling his bag onto his shoulder. “Start as we mean to go on. Potions, first thing on a Monday morning. Lovely.” He waved to Zayn and Liam, and flicked Niall on the ear, “Come on, don’t want to be late for Debussy.”

As the two of them walked down to the dungeons a plan was forming inside Harry’s head. “Niall?” he asked, trying to sound subtle. “I’m going to ask you to do something and, if you truly love me, you won’t ask me why. Okay?”

Niall laughed, “Time to hide a body? I knew this day would come.”

“Not quite.” They were almost approaching the classroom entrance, so he stopped, pulling Niall back. “Will you partner up with Ed this year?”

Niall’s eyebrows shot up, “Trying to get rid of me, Styles?”

Harry licked his lips and tugged at his ear awkwardly. “I want to try to work with L – Er, Tomlinson.”

“Okay,” Niall drew out the word. “But he always works with St James.” He was clearly curious but, to Harry’s relief, didn’t pry.

“Oh, right. Damn it.”

Niall smiled, shaking his head. “Well, Jesy does owe me a big favour.” He shrugged, “Maybe she can distract him?”

Harry resisted the urged to jump for joy. “Yes,” he said. “That would be perfect.” Niall looked at him through narrow eyes before setting off to wait with the other Gryffindors. As Niall spoke to Jesy, Harry fell in line between the Soller twins. Across the passageway he watched Louis nod along to something that Greg St James was saying.

Niall’s plan worked like a charm. Harry simply stood at his work bench and waited as Louis hovered near St James and Jesy’s desk, looking faintly confused.

When Louis finally gave up and began to search the room for a spare seat, Harry tried to look as welcoming and compos mentis as possible. Spotting Louis walking in his direction, he gave himself a firm pat on the back.

“Do you mind? Apparently house integration is the name of the game this year,” Louis said with a self-conscious smile.

“Sure,” Harry replied. He stepped to one side to make room.

“Thanks.” Louis took a deep breath, “Um, Tomlinson. Or, uh, Louis – Louis’ fine.”

Harry offered his hand, “Hi, I’m Harry Styles. We met, I don’t know if – At the station?”

As Louis shook his hand he nodded and said, not unkindly, “Yeah, I remember. It was only yesterday.” Harry blinked, cringing internally. “Last year’s Quidditch hero as well, right?”

“I reckon it was more beginners luck but if you want to carry on believing I’m just incredibly talented, I won’t stop you,” he teased.

Louis smiled and looked as if he was about to reply when Professor Debussy clapped her hands together, “Alright. Quiet down. I know we’re all very excited for the new year but we have a lot to get through. If you could all open your books at page nineteen …”

Harry dared another glance at Louis. The other boy, however, had already flipped open his book and was flicking through the pages. Harry caught Niall’s eye from across the way. His friend gave him a thumbs up, with Ed grinning behind him. Harry pouted and pulled his book out of his bag.

The rest of the week went along in a similar fashion. Harry believed himself to be a master of subtlety until Zayn barked at him in the middle of charms, “I’m not going to pretend to understand your obsession with Tomlinson but can you please stop daydreaming about him for long enough to concentrate on not setting fire to my robes.”

Harry blinked, “Setting fire –?” He looked down to where his smoking wand was dangerously close to Zayn’s sleeve. “Oh shit. Sorry, man.”

Zayn shook his head, a little exasperated, “So, what’s the deal, Haz? Give me the gossip.”

“There isn’t any gossip,” Harry replied, honestly. “He was just nice to me. When I was running late for the Sorting Feast, he gave me the last space on the carriage. I just think he could be someone worth getting to know,” he shrugged.

“Yeah,” Niall said from the desk in front of them. “Arterbury refrained from punching me in the face the other day, when I accidently made eye contact with him.” He turned around in his chair. “I thought that was pretty nice of him, but you don’t see me going around trying to sniff his hair.”

“I’m not trying to sniff his hair, Jesus,” Harry huffed. “There’s nothing wrong with trying to expand your friendship group.”

“No,” Zayn smirked. “Especially not if he’s pretty as fuck.” Niall laughed.

“You think he’s pretty?” Harry asked, voice light.

Zayn raised his eyebrows, “I’ve got eyes, don’t I?”

“Okay, he’s fairly easy on the eye. So sue me.”

“I would if I thought you had any money,” said Zayn, dismissively.

“It’s fine, Harry,” Niall said, elbowing Zayn’s arm. “We’ll be your wingmen, okay? Just don’t jump into anything with your eyes closed, that’s all we’re saying. And I reckon his hair would smell great, by the way, if you were wondering what my position on that was.”

Harry stared, “I really wasn’t.”

“Quiet, you three,” Professor Albion said from the front. “Or I’ll have to separate you.”

Zayn gave him  _a look_  before they were all utterly distracted by the kitten Ed was meant to be silencing, which started to roar.

It was almost a full week after that when Harry, Liam and Niall were packing up after a thoroughly enjoyable Herbology lesson.

“I’ll see you both in Binns’, yeah? I need to go get my book from the dorm,” Niall said as he scurried out of the greenhouse.

“Yeah, see you Niall,” Harry replied. He and Liam were the last people left, apart from Professor Longbottom. Harry groaned as Liam struggled to shove all his books back in his bag. “Li, seriously, I’ll take some. We’re going to the same place.”

“No,” Liam said, clearly irritated. “I knew this bag would be too small. Damn it.”

"Is everything all right over there?” Professor Longbottom asked from the top of the greenhouse.

“Yes, sir,” Liam said, voice the perfect model of politeness. Harry was beginning to suspect that it was Liam’s impeccable manners more than anything else that had landed him the position as Hufflepuff prefect. “We’ll be out of your way momentarily.”

“There’s no hurry, boys,” the professor responded as Harry sniggered at Liam, mouthing ‘momentarily?’

Just as Liam managed to force the zip on his bag to close, there was a knock on the door. Harry and Liam both turned to see Louis standing apprehensively at the greenhouse entrance.

“Mr Tomlinson. Class doesn’t start for another five minutes, you know,” Professor Longbottom said kindly.

Liam elbowed Harry, jerking his head towards Louis, as if Harry hadn’t immediately been acutely aware of the other boy’s presence. He scowled at Liam’s grin.

“Yes, I know, Professor,” Louis said. He glanced towards Harry and Liam and shifted his bag on his shoulder. “I was just wondering if I could talk to you about something first.”

“Absolutely. What’s on your mind?”

“It’s, um, sort of private,” Louis said, his words coming out stilted and awkward.

“Of course,” Professor Longbottom replied, unfazed. He turned to the two of them, “Mr Payne, Mr Styles, would you mind?”

Harry faltered for a moment, unreasonably considering simply refusing the request before Liam shoved him forward. “No problem,” Liam offered. As they approached the door, he added with a nod, “Goodbye Professor, Tomlinson.”

Louis blinked. “Payne,” he nodded back. Harry almost tripped on the step out when Louis looked over to him and said, with a much softer voice, “Harry.”

“Yes. Louis, see – See you,” he managed to garble as the greenhouse door was shut behind him. He paused before slumping on to the castle wall. “Not a word, alright. Not. A. Word.”

Liam laughed, “I wasn’t going to say anything.” He gave Harry a pat on the shoulder. “I think it’s cute. Come on, you know Binns hates us being late.”

If he could only have a conversation with Louis that lasted more than ten seconds, Harry was sure he’d make a better impression. So far, though, such opportunities were proving elusive. Harry needed to up his game. He allowed himself another few seconds of self-pity before following Liam into the castle.

~

The opportunity Harry had been looking for made itself known the weekend of the Quidditch trials. It was still September, fog lingering on the ground, when Harry and the handful of other hopefuls tumbled onto the Quidditch pitch, ready to impress.

The newly appointed captain, Poll Soller, had been mumbling darkly to anyone who would listen for the past week as, it turned out, the Slytherin trials had been scheduled for directly after the Gryffindor ones. This had come as somewhat of a blow to the majority of Gryffindors, who didn’t like the idea of potential Slytherin spies, but Harry had been thrilled. As Zayn had commented dryly when Harry had broken the news to them all over breakfast on Thursday, “Bet you’re crying yourself to sleep over that one, Styles.”

Harry gripped his broomstick tightly in his numbing hands. Niall said he would come along to cheer him on and Harry scanned the stands to try and find him. He spied several Slytherins waiting gloomily for their own trials to start later and tried to remain calm when he spotted Louis leaning against the railings. He was squinting up at the sky, looking delightfully rumpled, as if he’d just rolled out of bed. Harry jumped as Poll started shouting directly in front of his face.

“Right, ladies and gentlemen,” she said to the small crowd. “Let’s get straight to it. We’re starting from scratch, so every position is available. Let’s try the Chasers first. Line ‘em up.”

He watched the Chaser try outs and sat nervously next to Niall as potential Seekers took to the air straight after. “Just relax,” said Niall through a mouthful of toast. “You’ll be fine. Poll loves you. You could fall off your broom and still get on the team.”

“Yeah, that’s not actually helping,” he mumbled, scratching his knee. He chanced a look over to where Louis was sitting but the other boy was busy frowning at the pitch. St James had joined him and appeared to be trying to levitate a small spider that was running across the rails.

“And stop staring, it’s creepy.”

“I’m not –” Harry started, but was cut off when Poll yelled for the Beaters to head to the pitch.

“Good luck, Harold.”

Niall was right. He needn’t have worried. Being back in the air, club in hand, was easy. He flew circles around the pitch, sending Bludgers in whichever direction he pleased. When he landed on the ground again with a satisfying thud, Poll was smiling at him, though her dark eyes were still stern.

“Not too shabby, Harry.” She cocked her head, “Team list’ll be posted in the common room by three.”

He nodded, taking several deep breaths. Beater was a physically demanding position to play. When finally the Keepers had been tried, most of the hopefuls left for the changing rooms, but Harry forced Niall to hang back with him so they could watch Slytherin. Or rather, watch Louis.

He was brilliant, better than Harry remembered. Niall whacked him when he started to applaud a goal Louis scored.

After the Slytherin trials wrapped up Harry and Niall were heading back to the castle. They spotted Louis loitering on the path, fiddling with a strap on his bag. 

Harry paused, internal conflict raging. Niall shoved him, “Do it, just go and speak to him!" 

“L – Louis!” he stammered. Louis looked up, his face splitting into a smile as his gaze landed on Harry. Harry gave a small wave. “Hi, Louis, I – Er, I was watching you over the –” he pointed over his shoulder, clicking his tongue. “You’re pretty good.”

Louis looked faintly bewildered for a moment before he laughed, “Um, thank you.” There was a pause where all three of them simply stared at each other. “I saw you earlier,” said Louis, suddenly eager. “Beginners luck had nothing to do with it, did it?”

“We’ll see.” He shuffled his feet. Niall coughed, staring intently at Louis. “Oh, this is my friend, Niall.”

The two of them shook hands. “Hello. Horan, right?” Louis asked, narrowing his eyes. “I’m Louis. Um, I think, or I’m fairly sure anyway, that you’re my third cousin, actually.”

Harry turned on the spot to stare at Niall. He wouldn’t have forgotten to share such vital information with Harry, not when he’d been talking about Louis since the start of term, surely?

“Oh, yeah,” Niall said, voice high as it dawned on him. “That’s right, great auntie Jean. She had a sister in Slytherin I think? Married a Tomlinson or something. Huh, that’s weird.”

Niall began to nod but stopped when he spotted Harry’s expression. Louis replied, “Yes. My grandma, Wendy.”

“You never mentioned that,” said Harry, voice carefully neutral.

Niall shrugged, attempting to look innocent, “It slipped my mind.” Louis was watching them both uncertainly.

Harry sighed, “Well. Nice ice-breaker. So, you think you’ll get back on the team. After being out for a year?”

Louis bit his lip, looking unhappy. “I really don’t know,” he shrugged, kicking the path. “I kept up the practice last year but it’s not the same as a match is it?”

Harry’s brow rumpled, “Practice? I thought you were too ill?”

“Oh, no. I think – My brother said that,” Louis said, scratching his ear and looking awkward. Great, Harry thought, he’d managed to put his foot in it. Again. "I – My father, he, well he forbade me from playing for the team.”

“Forbade you?” Harry noticed Niall’s dumbfounded expression in his periphery.

“Well, yes. No, not really,” Louis said, flustered, a blush creeping up his neck. “Yes. It was – I was being punished. It – Well, it doesn’t matter, he’s said I can try out again now.” Louis brought hands together, close to his chest. He looked small as he smiled lightly, “Fingers crossed, I suppose.”

He was so adorable, Harry almost didn’t notice the falter in his voice. Before he realised what he was saying, words came tumbling out of his mouth, “You’re very nice.”

Harry was almost certain he heard Niall mutter, “Oh for goodness sake,” as he scratched his nose, staring at the ground.

Harry, on the other hand, couldn’t take his eyes off Louis. The other boy was beaming at him. Louis seemed to catch himself after a second though. He coughed, “Thank you. Um, are you – How have – um.” He looked frustrated with his own words before he said, “Potions! Potions is getting harder, don’t you think?” He was clearly trying to make conversation with Harry, albeit with dubious results.

“Yes. Yes, tricky,” Harry nodded in agreement.

“I’ve, er, I’ve got myself a pretty good partner though, so I reckon I’ll be alright,” said Louis, bashfully.

Harry felt the blood rushing to his face. “Niall and I were going to go down to the kitchen. It’s his birthday tomorrow, we wanted some special food. You – You could come with us?”

Louis frowned a little, glancing at Niall, “I didn’t know students were allowed in the kitchens.”

Niall scoffed, “I don’t think they’re supposed to, but who cares. What kind of Slytherin are you?” Niall’s eyes flicked down to Louis’ prefects badge, “Um, that is – Please don’t take points off us.”

“What do you say? Break some rules with us?” Harry teased, playfully.

At that moment St James called to Louis from the castle entrance and Louis spun around to wave at him. He turned back to Harry and Niall, expression apologetic, “I’ve gotta go. Thank you, for the offer. Maybe another time?”

Harry stepped forward as Louis went to leave, “Let me know, you know, if – If you make it? On to the team?” Louis sent him a politely puzzled look before nodding and jogging away to where St James was waiting for him.

Niall hummed, “Well, at least you’re both as horribly awkward as each other.” He pressed his lips together, “I think I need to re-evaluate my life decision, though. He was actually alright. You know, for a Slytherin.”

“Isn’t he, though?” Harry coughed, “Come on, we have a house elf to see about a cake.”

Harry got a position on the team and, in Divination the next day, Louis crouched down next to him to whisper that he’d got his position as Chaser back as well. Ignoring the strange looks he received from the Slytherin corner, Harry bit his lip when Louis walked off to sit near the window, forcing himself not to grin like an idiot.

~

Harry’s interaction with Louis maintained a steady level after that point. Louis didn’t take him up on his rule breaking offer but they managed to establish a small amount of work related banter in Potions as well as competitive yet friendly ribbing of each other’s house Quidditch teams. Harry had to put up with a certain level of teasing from his friends after Niall had re-enacted their post Quidditch trial conversation in all its cringe worthy glory, as he so put it, with as much theatricality as he could muster. Harry reckoned it was worth it, though. He even began to actively look forward to the lessons the Gryffindors shared with the Slytherins. He could almost feel his first year self turning in his grave.

By the middle of October it was time for the first weekend trip to Hogsmeade. Harry had visited Hogsmeade for the past two years, so some of the novelty was beginning to wear off, he was still happy to be let out of the castle for a break though. He, Liam, Niall and Zayn all put their names down and donned about five layers of woollen clothing before stepping out into the late morning chill.

As their boots crunched on the frosty ground, heading towards the picturesque village, Liam was murmuring beside him about visiting Zonko’s Joke Shop and Honeydukes sweet shop.

“We can go there, Li, but could we just head to Tomes and Scrolls first?” Zayn asked, voice muffled twice over by the howling wind and his thick scarf. “I ordered ‘Pyromancy: Perception or Prevarication?’ last week and they said it would be in by now.”

Niall stopped in his tracks. “Pyro-what? Is that  _extra_  reading you’re doing? We haven’t even been here two months!” he asked, outrage evident under a particularly violent shiver. “Never mind. As long as we get to Dominic Maestro’s at some point today, I’ll be a happy Horan.”

Zayn rolled his eyes, “That is all I want in life.”

Harry let the conversation continue, zoning out as they neared the High Street. He quickly spotted Spintwitches Quidditch Supplies and wondered over to stare at the cobweb-ridden window display. Since he had been reinstated team Beater, he’d been toying with the idea of buying a new bat to go with his new broom.

“Liam,” he said, turning to face his friends. “Hey, Li, do you –” He stopped short when he was met with empty space. He sighed. They mustn’t have notice him stopping to browse. “I take my eye of them for two seconds,” he muttered darkly, squinting into the distance to see if he could spot them further down the path.

“Talking to yourself?” a voice came from behind him. “First sign of trouble, so I hear.” Harry jumped on the spot but quickly recovered when he saw a well wrapped up Louis looking at him. The Slytherin’s hair had been pressed flat against his forehead by his woolly hat and was creeping into his eyes. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.”

“You didn’t,” Harry lied. Inside his head, his thoughts were whirring.  _Take the bull by the horns, Harry. Carpe diem._  “I’ve lost my friends. They’re a pretty ruthless bunch. You fall behind, you get left behind,” he joked.

Louis went along with it. “The epitome of honour,” he nodded.

“Right.” As a brief silence fell between them Harry noticed the dark circles under Louis eyes and the downwards turn to his mouth.

“I don’t have an excuse, really,” Louis said. “Just, sometimes, Greg’s monologue gets a little too much.”

It took a while for Harry to realise that Louis was talking about St James. He bit his lip, summoning up all of his courage. “Did you want to get a drink with me, maybe? I promise I’ll leave long enough pauses for you to speak, if you fancy it.”

Louis smiled and pushed his hair away from his face. “I don’t know –” he started, looking up and down the street. Stragglers from the Hogwarts party were walking by them, disinterestedly. Louis turned back to him, eyes strikingly blue in the cold light. “Yeah, alright then. Why not?”

“That’s the spirit,” Harry said and the two of them headed further into the village, their footprints trailing behind them in the frost.

They settled into a corner booth in The Three Broomsticks and Harry spotted Jesy and Jade near the window, giving them a small smile. When Louis pulled off his hat and scarf Harry could see a faint flush creeping up in neck. It was fascinating.

“So,” Harry started, feeling altogether pleased with himself for getting Louis to sit with him. “We’ve known each other a while, I’d like to think we’re friends –”

Louis scoffed, eyebrows raised. “Acquaintances,” he corrected.

“Okay. Well, I’m looking for an upgrade,” Harry said, offering a cheeky grin. “Tell me about you.”

“You want to know about me?” Louis eyed him with thinly veiled scepticism.

“I’m pretty sure that’s what I said.”

Louis sighed, glancing out of the misty window, “Look, Harry, you seem like a nice guy. I like working with you, but let’s not try and make this something it isn’t, okay?” Louis worried his lip, “I shouldn’t have come here with you.”

Harry lent forward, the cosy warmth of the pub washing away his nerves. “I don’t follow you.”

Louis levelled him with a steely glare, “We can talk to each other in class, right? We can nod when we pass in the hallway, we can even make small talk but you’re kidding yourself if you think we can be friends.”

Harry leaned back in his seat, frowning. What on earth was going on inside Louis’ head that made him think that way? Harry wasn’t to be deterred, he was convinced Louis was one of loveliest people he’d met and not even Louis himself could persuade him otherwise. “Why?” he asked, tone playful. “Are you a horrible person? Are you trying to save me from yourself or something?”

“No,” Louis seemed to smile in spite of himself, fiddling with the label on his bottle. He mumbled, “I’m awesome.”

“Well, so am I! Let’s just be awesome together. You can be my Ron.” Louis gave Harry a bemused look. “Because, my name’s Harry and –” he spluttered. “Nevermind. Will you just give it a try? It couldn’t hurt.”

“It might.” Louis flicked his gaze to meet Harry’s before sighing dramatically, “Fine.”

Harry could tell he’d won him over. At least a little. “Maybe I should tell you a bit about me first?”

“Maybe,” Louis conceded.

“Well.” He thought for a moment. “The two main loves of my life are Quidditch and music. If I could combine the two somehow, I would, maybe like a Quidditch meets musical chairs sort of thing, I don’t know.

“I once fell out of a tree and broke my arm and my dad was the only person around so he just took me to a Muggle hospital. It was horrendous, so ever since then I’ve had a serious fear of broken bones. I was talking to Niall about it and he reckons I should deliberately break a bone and then fix it, to get over it but I think that’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard, don’t you agree? Niall’s a bit ridiculous like that sometimes.

“Um, I’m embarking on a project at the moment to start a house-elf band with a few of the elves in the kitchen. Progress is pretty slow but I remain optimistic.

“But the dream, the absolute dream is to go on the ultimate broomtrip across America. I want to fly over Niagara Falls or Mount Rushmore or the Grand Canyon. I want to watch a real life game of Quodpot. I want to see the Statue of Liberty and the Golden Gate Bridge. I want to go to the Wizards Exposition in Boston. I just want to see all of it, you know?”

Harry took a breath, feeling a little bashful upon seeing Louis’ stunned expression.

“That,” Louis said with an astonished laughed, “Sounds amazing. It sounds unbelievable.”

Harry smiled and took a sip of his bubbling hot chocolate. He nudged Louis foot under the table, staring over the rim of his mug, “Your turn.”

Louis grimaced, “Nothing to tell, really.”

He rolled his eyes. “Come on Louis, ‘fess up.”

“Um, well,” Louis glanced around the pub for inspiration. “I live with my mother and father and my brother, Quentin. Well, he’s moved out now, but, yeah. The whole family’s magic, so I hardly know anything about Muggles, really.” He gave a self-depreciating laugh, “I couldn’t imagine what a Muggle hospital would be like. My father always taught me and my brother to work hard, so I try to focus on my school work as much as I can.” He licked his lips. “People sometimes say I’m a know-it-all but I’m not, I’m the opposite. I have to work hard, otherwise I’ll fall behind everyone else.” Louis pouted, apparently trying to think of something else to say. He shrugged, “I like Quidditch. Mother doesn’t approve but father said it was good for focusing the mind, so he let me and Quentin try for the team.”

Harry waited for a moment before asking in a soft voice, “What about you?”

Louis frowned, “I’ve just been talking about me.”

“No, not really. You’ve been talking about your dad. I mean, that’s great!” Harry rushed at Louis’ affronted expression. “I’m not knocking dads, but, just, what about you?”

“I suppose – I want, or I wanted –” Louis huffed at himself. Harry thought he looked frustrated more than anything else. “Father wants me to work at the Ministry of Magic,” he finished rather abruptly.

“Okay, well. What about your hobbies?”

“Quidditch.”

“Nothing else? What did you do last year, when you couldn’t play?”

“I studied,” said Louis.

Harry laughed, “Blimey, you sound like Zayn at his Zayniest.” He reached out his hand across the table, laying his open palm on the old wood. “Work with me here.”

Louis stared at Harry’s hand. “I – I sometimes think it might be, like, quite cool to see Africa.” He sent a weary expression over to Harry, apparently checking the other boy wasn’t about to laugh at him. When Harry just nodded encouragingly, he carried on. “I once read in a book that in Burkina they’ve bewitched an entire forest to walk around the country. It’ll spend a week in one place, then just get up and move somewhere else!” Louis had picked up his bottle as he was talking, walking it across the table in demonstration. His whole face had lit up as he spoke. It was beautiful. But then, it was gone again. “Though, my mother doesn’t like foreign travel. She doesn’t like the idea of me or Quentin travelling abroad either, so I don’t suppose it’ll ever happen.”

Louis frowned slightly at the bottle in his hand.

“I think that sounds like a fantastic idea,” said Harry. “So, your family’s pretty important to you, then?”

“Well, I –” Louis didn’t finish his sentence, simply shrugging.

“I get it.” Harry pulled his arm back to his side of the table, fiddling with the handle on his mug. “My sister Georgie is a royal pain in the arse, but she’s pretty cool.”

Louis hesitated before saying quietly, “My brother never played with me. Not once, in the entire time we were growing up. Sometimes I look at him now and I worry that I don’t know him at all.” He sent Harry a sad smile, “My own brother. How sad is that?”

Harry was a little lost for words. “It’s tragic.”

As Harry rummaged through his brain for something to lighten the mood, they stayed in companionable silence. After finishing their drinks Harry grabbed Louis’ wrist. “We should go to Honeydukes!” he said loudly.

Before Louis could reasonably object Harry pulled him out of the booth, hurriedly shoving on his coat over his thick jumper.

They trudged through the increasingly fierce wind and Harry spotted Professor Longbottom ahead of them, chatting to Professor Hagrid. He nudged Louis with his elbow. “Did you sort it out? Whatever you were talking to him about?” he half shouted over the weather, nodding towards the professors. Louis followed his gaze, eyes widening a little when he recognised who Harry was talking about. “Sorry,” said Harry, quickly. “I shouldn’t interfere. Liam’s always telling me off for sticking my nose in.”

Harry was fairly sure he saw Louis roll his eyes. “No, it’s alright,” the other boy said. “You might be able to help, actually.”

“Oh yeah?”

Louis nodded, running a finger over his bottom lip. “It’s just this Potter kid, Albus? He’s been getting a bit of stick from the Gryffindors.”

“Oh, that’s so stupid,” Harry groaned.

Louis hummed. “It’s only the first years, really. They’re probably just trying to impress their friends. The professor said he’d have a word with them. Maybe you could keep an eye out?”

“Sure. I’ll tell Ed.”

“I mean,” Louis said, squinting towards the small crowd outside Honeydukes as they approached. “I think it’s settled down a bit now but he was quite upset at the time. You know how it is.” Louis looked at him curiously, “Or maybe you don’t, I’m not sure.”

Harry wanted to tell him about seeing him at the Sorting Feast, about how good it was of him to reassure Potter or just about how simply  _good_  he was. But they had arrived.

Louis interrupted the fierce battle inside Harry’s mind. “Is it terrible of me to say, I’ve only been in once before?”

He bit his lip and Harry tried not to stare. “Yes,” he coughed. “Yes, that is truly terrible. Come on.” He placed a hand on Louis’ shoulder and guided him through the throng of people. “You need an education.”

It was a delight to see Louis navigate the seemingly endless shelves of brightly coloured sweets. Harry watched as the smaller boy grinned, pointing out box after box. After seeing Louis start to jump on the spot while deciding between Peppermint Toads or Ice Mice Harry soon came to the conclusion that the prefect really had a lot of energy and was simply adept in the art of hiding it.

When they left the shop with their purchases (Louis had settled on just a box of the Frogs, while Harry had Pepper Imps, Drooble’s Best Blowing Gum and Shoc-o-chocs spilling from his pockets) they raced up to the Shrieking Shack.

“I beat you!” Louis panted, collapsing onto the ancient fence. “A point to Slytherin, I think.”

“Hey!” Harry protested, although his words weren’t quite as authoritative as he’d have liked them to be as he heaved in great breaths, clutching at a stitch at his side. “That’s not fair.”

Louis pouted, “You’re probably right. Okay, a point to Gryffindor as well. Second place is nothing to be ashamed of.” He stared at the dilapidated shack for a second. “And a point to Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff too. It’s not their fault they were underrepresented.”

Harry laughed breathlessly, resolving to work harder on his Quidditch training as he willed his heart to stop beating so fast.

Louis sank down next to him on the small boulder Harry had rested on. “Thank you, for today,” he said. “For all of this.”

Harry blushed. “You don’t have to thank me, Louis.”

“If you say so. But, like, sorry for being an arse earlier. I don’t –” Louis huffed, “This is gonna sound like a pity ploy but, I don’t have many friends. I don’t know why.  _I_  like people, people just don’t seem to like me.”

Harry smiled when Louis blinked up at him, timidly. Harry’s voice was quiet as he said, “I like you.”

“Yeah, so it seems,” Louis grinned, ducking his head. “You must be one knut short of a sickle, mate.”

“It’s been said before,” said Harry. His heart carried on racing inside his chest, only this time he didn’t think it had anything to do with running.

~

Harry stared into the crackling fire. It was early on a Wednesday afternoon and he, Liam and Zayn were lounging about in the Hufflepuff common room. It was quiet, with most students still in their classes. The three of them, however, were enjoying one of their rare shared ‘study periods’ together, while Niall was in his Muggle Studies lesson.

Harry adored the Hufflepuff Basement. It reminded him of a burrow or a country pub, giving him that warm, nostalgic, peaceful feeling that he so loved. If rumour was to be believed it had previously been the only common room in the castle that hadn’t been seen by other house members for over a thousand years. It was much more common now, though, to find students from all houses in each other’s common rooms. Although the Slytherins were renowned for being the last great bastion of house common room integrity.

The room was decorated in the Hufflepuff colour yellow and the circular windows near the ceiling let in beaming rays of sunlight, with magical plants hanging from almost every surface. With the Halloween Feast coming up, Harry believed it was the best place to be as the inviting fragrance of fresh pumpkin pie filled the entire room. He suspected that this was because they were so close to the kitchens, but he couldn’t rule out the possibility of actual pumpkins being grown inside the basement itself.

Liam stretched and yawned loudly from where he was curled up at the foot of the sofa. “What table are we sitting at this year?” Liam asked. “For the feast?”

Zayn twisted his neck so he was facing Liam, “I think it’s time for the Huff to step up to the plate, actually.”

“Ah, we finally huffed and puffed and blew away the competition, did we?” Liam joked. “Sound good to you, Harry?”

Harry jerked his head towards the two of them, “Sorry?”

Liam rolled his eyes, “Halloween. Hufflepuff table good for you?”

“Oh, yeah.” Harry sat up in his chair, the essay he was working on falling off his lap. “I wanted to talk to you guys about that. Hufflepuff’s fine but, would you guys mind if I – If I invited Louis?”

He shifted uncomfortably as the two boys smirked at him.

“So, you’re seriously serious about this Slytherin thing, then?” Zayn asked.

Harry shrugged, “Maybe. Can we not, you know, make a big deal out of it?”

Zayn started to laugh but Liam hit his arm, “Don’t make me bring Perrie up, Zayn. Of course it’s fine, Harry. This isn’t Mean Girls, you don’t have to ask if you want your friend to sit with us.”

“Are you sure this isn’t Mean Girls?” Harry muttered darkly, glaring at Zayn, who was still trying to stifle his giggles. “Anyway, it’s just polite, isn’t it?” He reached down to pick up his parchment once more and nodded resolutely at the end of his quill, “You guys will love him, just wait and see.”

“I’m sure we will. Zayn, check my spelling will you?” Liam asked, handing over his own essay. He looked back over to Harry. “If he’s won you over, that’s all the blessing I need.”

~

Harry shoved Niall hard as Professor Turnstone passed behind them. Niall woke up with a loud snort and Harry had to cover his mouth with his palm to stop his laughter escaping as Niall immediately pretended to be examining his star chart with avid interest.

It was about half an hour after midnight and the fifth year Gryffindors and Slytherins were crouched at the top of the Astronomy Tower, valiantly trying to stay awake long enough to jot down the luminosity of the Pleiades Star Cluster or record the location of one of Jupiter’s many moons. The cold breeze kept Harry alert but also did a marvellous job of ensuring his dislike of the subject even more. He thought he might actually enjoy Astronomy if it were held at a reasonable time, in a nice warm classroom.

“Niall,” he whispered. “Niall, cover for me. I’m going in.”

Niall gave a lazy wave of his hand before setting his eye to the telescope once more. Harry suspected he was simply trying to get back to sleep.

Harry crawled gracelessly over to Louis on the opposite side of the tower. He was fairly sure Professor Turnstone, who was substituting, was watching him the whole way but he decided not to look back to confirm it.

“Mr Tomlinson,” he said directly into Louis’ ear.

Louis startled before turning to him, unimpressed. “Alright?”

“Yeah, I just wanted to ask you a quick question.” He pulled his long legs in close to his chest and tried to squeeze into the small space between Louis and the wall. “Unless you and Greg have anything planned for it, did you want to, like, sit with us for the feast next week?”

Louis blinked. “The Halloween Feast?”

“Uhuh. We were going to crash the Hufflepuff table.”

“You want me to hang around with your friends?” said Louis with a smile. “I was worried you’d want me as your dirty little secret or something.”

Harry shifted, trying not to think too much on Louis words, “Well, that too, but no. If you want to, you’d be more than welcomed.”

Louis looked out at the dark sky before nodding, “Yeah, okay. Greg always spends feasts with his girlfriend anyway, I wouldn’t be missed. You’re sure the Hufflepuffs wouldn’t mind a Slytherin in the ranks?”

“’Course they won’t! Albus Potter and Malfoy are friends without any problems.” It was true. The two first years had fuelled a week’s worth of gossip for the school, having apparently formed a tight friendship. Harry would never admit it to anyone but whenever he saw the two boys together in the corridor it made his heart sing.

Louis looked at him as if he were stupid. “You are aware they’re both in Slytherin, right?”

“Yeah, he’s a Potter though,” he said, as though it were obvious.

“And they’re exempt from the normal rules, are they?”

“No, I just –” He noticed Louis wide grin and pouted. “Shut up.”

Louis lent closer, checking over his shoulder that the professor was busy elsewhere. “Can you keep a secret?”

Harry grinned, eyes bright, “Always.”

Louis licked his lips. “Potter’s been sad, yeah? It’s because the Sorting Hat gave him a choice. He told me about it. Albus told it he didn’t want to be Slytherin, but then it just asked him why he didn’t want to be and said that he shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, all that stuff. So, he  _did_ reconsider and since then, since it was all done, he’s been scared that he made a mistake.”

Louis paused, waiting for Harry to be impressed.

“So he chose Slytherin?”

“Isn’t that cool?” Louis’ eyes twinkled in the starlight. “I think he’s glad about it now, from what he’s said to me. When – When he first mentioned it, I told him that houses didn’t make people, that the people made houses.” Louis nodded, almost to himself. “That’s what my grandma used to say to me.”

Harry was prevented from replying by Professor Turnstone, who had crouched down next to them without either of them noticing. “Well, that’s a lovely sentiment, Tomlinson, but I can’t see its relevance to your work,” she interrupted. They both snapped their heads towards her. “I suppose one could use it as a metaphor for various stars making up their constellations, but it would be rather tenuous.” She looked at them both, one eyebrow raised. “Back to the telescopes, I think?” she said, before striding away.

Harry gave Louis a parting smirk before crawling back over to a snoring Niall.


	2. Chapter 2

_ You might belong in Hufflepuff, _

_ Where they are just and loyal, _

_ Those patient Hufflepuffs are true, _

_ And unafraid of toil. _

It was Halloween night and the castle had been dressed to the nines. The Hogwarts ghosts performed a really rather impressive synchronised gliding routine above the long tables of the Great Hall. The unnatural glow of the ghosts above them coupled with the flickering orange light from the pumpkins adorning the walls gave the hall a charmingly eerie feel. Harry grinned when he spotted a collection of Hufflepuff first years, eyes wide and mouths open in unhidden awe of it all. As the excited bubble of conversation rang throughout the hall Harry cast an eye across to his friends.

He, Niall and Zayn had joined Liam, Jade and Perrie at the Hufflepuff table. Perrie and Jade had made themselves up to look like vampires especially for the occasion, although the final result was somewhat terrifying. The blood spilling from Jade’s mouth looked, to Harry, unsettlingly realistic. Niall, it seemed, was trying to charm Jade into helping him with their Care of Magical Creatures project, utilising the cauldron full of sweets on the table to his advantage. Harry had no doubt that by the time the feast was over he would have succeeded.

Harry coughed loudly and everyone turned to look at him. “Is it time for the speeches already?” asked Zayn, face innocent.

Harry shot him a dirty look, “Pipe down. Now, we all know that tonight is a momentous occasion for me. Louis has agreed to come and eat with us, I’m pretty sure the next step is us getting married and having lots of babies together.”

Liam sighed, “You don’t even know that he’s gay –”

“I have a feeling!” Harry interrupted. Liam rolled his eyes.

“Don’t worry, Hazza,” Niall said. “We’ll scout it out for you. All subtle, like.”

Harry was about to tell Niall that he didn’t trust his version of subtle when he saw Louis walking towards the Hufflepuff table. He looked nervous, his head down and his hands gripping onto the sleeves of his jumper. “He’s coming over now. Just, please, if you’ve ever felt any even vague fondness for me, please  _ be cool _ ,” he begged, not encouraged at all by the five smirking faces staring back at him.

He waved the other boy down. A surge of nausea travelled through him as he noticed Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws literally turning in their seats and _ pointing _  as Louis walked down the gangway towards him. He couldn’t believe it. He knew there was some rivalry still between the four houses, but he’d always believed it to be the good natured sort. But people were glaring at Louis, as if there was something wrong with him.

Harry tried to keep his face neutral as Louis reached him. “Hi, Louis. You’re here, then.”

“You didn’t think I’d stand you up?” Louis joked, scratching his neck and sending a furtive glance to the table. He’d clearly noticed the glares as well but was attempting to ignore them. Harry suddenly felt the urge to yell at the gawkers to get lost.

“No, I didn’t. I –” He bit his lip, “Oh, leave off.” Stepping back to make room next to him on the bench, he said, “You know Niall.” Niall gave Louis a thumbs up, his mouth full of popcorn. “And this is Liam, Jade and Perrie.”

Liam stood up, leaning across the table to shake Louis’ hand, “Nice to meet you again. Us three are all Hufflepuffs.”

Louis nodded, “Hi. Yeah, I remember from the prefects meeting.” He frowned, “You’re the guy that transfigured Professor Wolff’s hat into a candlestick the other day? Pretty impressive.”

“Well, it would’ve been if I had done it on purpose,” Liam laughed, sitting down again.

The girls waved as Louis took in their make-up. He grinned, “Very nice.”

Perrie smiled, blood squelching from her mouth, “Thank you, Louis. Nobody else seems to agree, which is a shame.” She shoved Zayn with her elbow.

Zayn nodded up to Louis, “Zayn Malik, Ravenclaw. How you doing?”

“Zayn, hello.” As Louis sat down he asked, “Did you say Malik?”

Zayn flicked his gaze up and down Louis’ body before answering. Harry could see Louis shifting uncomfortably. “I’m a Muggle-born, if that’s what you mean,” Zayn eventually replied. Harry glared at him from behind Louis’ shoulder. Zayn ignored him.

Louis’ face fell. He rushed, “Oh, no. It’s only, you’re Deema’s brother, right?”

Zayn looked rather taken aback. “Well, yes. Zayn’ll do, though.”

“Sorry, of course,” Louis blushed and Harry fought the urge to send a jelly-brain jinx in Zayn’s direction. Louis shrugged, “It’s just that she’s in the library a lot, so I speak to her sometimes.”

“Yeah, I think I’ve seen you there,” Zayn said, eyes still slightly narrower than usual.

Luckily, at that moment their food magically appeared in front of them, providing a much welcomed distraction. After Louis struck up a conversation with Liam about exactly  _ how  _ he’d managed to transfigure that hat, Harry relaxed. Perrie and Niall were laughing and Zayn was nodding along in interest. It all seemed to be going pretty well. Of course, it wasn’t to last.

Somehow, to Harry’s horror, by the time their starters vanished and main course appeared Louis and Zayn had returned to the topic of houses. Jade was wearing a tense smile beneath her make-up and, although Niall was following the conversation, he was unusually silent. On the bright side, Harry thought, at least Louis appeared to be more enthusiastic. He turned his gaze to the boy next to him, a forgotten spoon full of peas half way to his mouth. He was talking animatedly to Zayn across the table.

“You lot always moan about us Slytherins not being friendly, not getting involved. I don’t see any of you coming over to talk, inviting us to anything.” Louis jabbed his spoon towards Zayn, peas falling back onto his plate. Liam smirked, impressed and turned to Zayn to see his reply, like a spectator at Wimbledon.

“You’re the only one talking about it, Louis,” Zayn scoffed. “None of us care that you’re a Slytherin. All we care about is that you’re a decent guy, yeah?” He paused to cut up his pie. “You’re the only one with the hang up. Maybe you need to think about why that is?”

Louis gave a small double take at Zayn’s words. Harry wondered if perhaps Zayn had hit a low blow and gently reached out to nudge Louis’ thigh under the table. As soon as he’d done it, he withdrew his hand, blushing and hoping no one noticed. You can’t just go around touching people’s legs, Harry, he scolded himself. Especially the legs of people you’re trying to impress _. _

Before he replied to Zayn, Louis sent him a curious look. Harry was pleased to note that he didn’t seem angry. Louis set down his spoon. “You all say it doesn’t matter, but you’re lying. When you all introduced yourselves to me the very first thing you told me, apart from your names, was which house you were in. I bet you were all disappointed when Potter was put in Slytherin. Tell me I’m wrong?”

Nobody answered.

“Zayn,” Louis continued. “You automatically assumed I was referring to your heritage earlier.”

Zayn’s mouth dropped. “Yeah, not because I’m hung up on it –

“You just expected that, because I’m a Slytherin, I would be?” Louis responded. He sighed, glancing up at the head table where all the professors were chatting to one another. “It doesn’t matter what you say, I get that you’re trying but it’s hard to shake what you’ve been brought up believing. I know what people say about me behind my back.” He poked at his last potato, miserably. “About my mother.

An awkward shuffle seemed to travel around the group. Only last week in Defence Against the Dark Arts Harry had overheard two Ravenclaws, Rollo Fowler and Larisa Dalca, talking about how Adrienne Tomlinson probably followed in the footsteps of her uncle, Evan Rosier, and joined the Death Eaters for the Second Wizarding War. It was all nonsense, of course. There was no evidence for it and the Tomlinson family had always denied anything of the sort. Harry still felt a little guilty.

Louis ignored the discomfort of his audience, however. “You lot think it’s all been fixed but that’s only because you don’t have to be on the receiving end of all the glares.”

Zayn shifted in his seat, his expression more apologetic than it had been before. “I haven’t been brought up to believe anything about Slytherins, mate.”

“Granted, but since you arrived at Hogwarts? It’s all ‘Ravenclaws are the clever ones, Slytherins are evil, blah, blah, blah’.”

Liam nodded. “Right. Everyone thinks we’re stupid because we got put in Hufflepuff,” he said, sincerely. “Didn’t it used to be that way for Muggle-borns, though? All the pure-bloods would automatically think they were inferior?

“So I deserve it?” said Louis, dumbfounded. “For what my ancestors believed?

Liam blanched, “God, no, not at all. I was just – well, it’s like the scales have gone too far the other way.” Louis’ expression softened.

By now everyone had almost finished their food. The volume of general chatter in the hall had lessened as people relaxed in to a satisfied stupor. Niall and Jade grinned at him from across the table. At some point during the evening Niall had got some of Jade’s fake blood across his face and it stood out markedly against his pale skin. Harry turned to Louis, who was staring at him, timidly.

“Sorry,” Louis whispered, so only Harry could hear.

Harry shook his head and silently offered Louis a lollypop from the cauldron. Louis took it with a smile.

“What’s that old quote?” Harry asked the table. “You know that Dumbledore one? ‘It matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be.’”

As the group around him groaned, Louis said mockingly, “Oh, you’re one of those people. That’s cute.”

_ Louis thought he was cute. _

He coughed, “What people?”

“Dumbledore fans.” Louis said it in such a way that Harry knew he was joking. If he was serious, Harry would have to reconsider their new found friendship; Dumbledore was his idol.

“Surely everyone is?”

“I respect the guy,” he said, eyes twinkling mischievously. “Maybe I wouldn’t have done it exactly the same.”

“He’s Harry’s hero, ain’t he?” Niall said smugly, nodding towards Harry. “Bad arse, all powerful wizard of his era and a fellow friend of Dorothy.” Harry couldn’t tell what he wanted more, to whack Niall in the face, or for the ground to swallow him up where he sat.

Zayn snorted into his trifle and Louis asked, clearly confused, “Friend of Dorothy?”

Harry glared daggers at Niall, who simply shrugged. “Niall’s just trying to show off his Muggle knowledge. It means gay,” he said as casually as possible. Which wasn’t very. “Or it used to, Niall. Read something written in the last twenty years, would you?”

Liam almost choked on his spiced pumpkin milkshake, “Wait, what? Dumbledore was gay?”

Zayn sent him a withering look while Perrie cackled.

Harry was still waiting for Louis’ reply, though. The other boy had an odd expression on his face, one Harry couldn’t quite pin down. “You’re gay?” he asked.

“Yes,” said Harry.

“Is that a problem?” Zayn asked, grinding his jaw.

Louis looked about ready to scream. “For Merlin’s sake, no! I’m not a poster boy for prejudice, you know. Of course it’s fine.”

Perrie lent over the table to squeeze Louis’ wrist, “Just ignore him, Louis. He thinks he’s all that.”

Finally the desserts were cleared from the table and the first few students began to make their way back to their dormitories. Harry’s stomach felt like it would burst, he’d eaten so much. He was contemplating the ramifications of undoing his belt buckle when Louis asked, “Did you hear me?”

He blinked, “Sorry. Food stupor. What did you say?”

Louis laughed, “How’s your house-elf band getting along?”

“Oh, yeah.” Harry turned on the bench so he was fully facing Louis as he spoke. “Not great, to be honest.”

“What? I was looking forward to the first concert!”

Harry grinned, “Were you? You’re our first groupie.”

“Front row at every gig, I promise,” Louis chuckled. “What happened?”

He scrunched up his nose. “Well, one of the more senior elves found out what I was doing and asked me to stop. Apparently it’s against their orders or something. I don’t really know, but I didn’t want to upset anyone. They’re pretty sensitive sometimes.”

“I suppose. We used to have a house-elf, when I was really little. Ru, I think she was called. I don’t remember it entirely but Quentin always says that I accidently set her free when I gave her my pyjamas.” Louis smiled at the memory. Then he looked puzzled, “She was really upset, now that I think about it.”

A shadow was cast over the two of them and Harry looked up to see Perrie hovering. She was looking at Louis, eyebrow raised. “Will you walk with me to the prefect’s meeting?” she asked kindly.

Louis seemed surprised but grabbed his wand from the table and said, “Yeah, sure.”

“Li, you coming?”

As Liam nodded, Niall asked, “Why is there a meeting on Halloween?”

Perrie twirled a strand of hair around her finger. “Because, Horan, foolish people like you always think it’s funny to pull pranks on Halloween. The Headmistress wants to crack down on it this year.”

The three prefects said their goodbyes and left, and immediately Harry turned to the others.

“Gulping gargoyles,” Niall murmured. “Can you believe we’re friends with three prefects? Six if you count Ed, Jesy and Leigh-Anne.” He looked almost ill. “We’ve either done something terribly wrong or terribly right.”

Harry said, “So, Louis’ a friend, now?”

Niall laughed, “A friend of yours is a friend of mine. ‘Sides, I’ve already told you a like him.” He shrugged, “He’s funny.”

“Zayn?” Harry asked, almost apprehensively.

Zayn stuck his bottom lip out and nodded. “He’s alright. He’s very forward. He’s –” Zayn chewed his lip in thought, “I think he’ll fit in fine.”

Harry sighed in relief, “You could’ve been a bit friendlier, you know.”

Zayn smirked, “Well, we’ve gotta make sure he’s good enough for you, don’t we?”

“If it makes any difference,” Jade piped up, shuffling up into Liam’s vacated seat. “I thought he was absolutely adorable.”

Harry beamed, “That makes a huge difference, Jade. I totally agree.”

Zayn and Niall both shook their heads in despair as Harry and Jade grinned stupidly.

~

It actually all worked out much better than Harry had hoped. Despite their rocky start Zayn soon warmed up to Louis and Louis, for his part, bypassed the whole animosity stage in favour of recruiting Zayn as his library buddy.

Harry tried not to feel too upset that Louis hadn’t asked him to be his library buddy given the fact that spending more than twenty minutes in the library gave him a headache. He blamed the dust. “And, if it helps,” Zayn said after Harry had spent the journey from Charms to Transfiguration moaning that Zayn had stolen his new friend from him, “he talks about you for half of the time anyway.”

“Really?”

“Really. When he’s not researching for that bloody Potions project. Poor thing, I don’t think he even knows he’s doing it. You’ve wormed your way into his subconscious somehow,” Zayn whispered as Professor Wolff started to write on the board. “But, he’s shockingly good at a History of Magic, so I put up with it.”

Niall considered the whole concept of library buddies to be entirely untoward. He didn’t let that stop his fondness for the Slytherin, though. Harry suspected that he simply enjoyed having another person to talk about the Kenmare Kestrels with. Louis had told Harry quietly in one of their shared Study Periods that he didn’t actually support the team but just hadn’t found a way to tell Niall yet. Harry hadn’t the heart to break the news to Niall, though, the boy seemed so enthralled. He’d even demanded that Louis partner him in Divination when he and Harry got separated for talking too much.

Surprisingly, or perhaps unsurprisingly, Harry wasn’t quite sure which, Louis and Liam had got on like a house of fire. Their shared role as prefect had provided them with a lot of common ground. In no time at all Liam was assuring them that Louis was the only reason he had any chance of passing his Defence Against the Dark Arts O.W.L.

“Alas,” Zayn mourned upon this announcement. “I have been well and truly replaced.”

Louis made a sad face and patted Zayn’s arm, “I wouldn’t worry. I reckon I’m just a fling, he’ll come home to you in the end.”

Niall and Harry sniggered as Liam tried to splutter a response.

By the middle of November Harry felt completely justified in saying that Louis was a firm fixture in their friendship group. He tried not to feel too smug as he wrote news of all this home to Georgie, whom he’d promised to regularly update on ‘Mission Cute Slytherin’. Before going to bed after a particularly trying Quidditch practice he tied the letter to his owl Edmund’s foot and watched as he flew out into the night sky.

Ed moaned from his bunk, “Shut the window, Harry. It’s winter for pity’s sake.

Harry did, climbing into bed and extinguishing the lamps with a flick of his wand. He dreamt that he was swimming deep in the Great Lake, prising open gigantic clams, each of which contained a single rosy apple. Instead of eating the apples he saved them all, hoarding them away to take out and admire whenever he felt like it.

~

“This bloody thing!” Liam yelled at breakfast one morning, causing them all to jump.

Zayn smirked, “What’s got you stressed, poppet?”

Liam sagged and turned to them all, face sheepish, “It’s my bag. I can’t fit anything in it, it’s ridiculous. I don’t know why I bought it.”

As Harry rubbed his shoulder sympathetically, Louis laughed, “Li, why don’t you just expand it?”

“Eh?”

Louis sent them all a baffled expression before rolling his eyes, “Give it here.” Liam wordlessly handed over his satchel and watched as Louis emptied the overflowing contents of the bag on the table, pulled out his wand and muttered, “Propagati abscondum.”

Harry shot a look at Niall, who simply shrugged. Louis placed everything back in the bag, which now closed with ease and returned it to Liam with a small smile.

Liam shook the bag cautiously as Niall asked, “What did you do?”

“Just a little undetectable extension charm, it’s not too complex.” He looked over to Liam, “Sorry, man. I should’ve done it sooner, I didn’t realise you were struggling.”

Liam pulled a face, “’S alright. Thanks.” He pouted at Zayn, “Did you know that spell?”

Zayn blinked, leaning bodily on the table, “Yeah, ‘course.”

“Well, why didn’t you tell me about it?” Liam said, indignant. “I’ve been going on about my bag since September.”

“You never asked, did you?”

Liam huffed, grabbing another slice of toast. Harry pulled Louis closer to him, pleased to see the smile dancing in Louis’ eyes.

~

Harry stared down at the parchment, biting his lip. He was lingering in the corridor in between lessons, contemplating whether or not to enter the potions competition that Professor Debussy had told them about a few weeks ago. Posters had gone up all around the school that morning, one of which Harry had pulled down to read through. He already had so much work to do for his classes anyway; they weren’t kidding when they’d said O.W.L. year was a tough slog.  _ And _  he was stressing about Louis on top of all that. He wanted to make a move, to maybe be more than friends with the boy but he just couldn’t work out how.

A tiny voice in his brain seemed to say clearly that it would, in fact, be very simple if he’d just suck it up and say something to Louis. He shook the thought out of his head.

“Harold.”

Harry raised his head to see Louis darting in between the moving crowd of students.

“Alright. Looks nasty,” Harry pointed at a cut on Louis’ cheek.

Louis pulled a face, “Yeah, bloody Fanged Geranium got me in Herbology. Zayn didn’t stop laughing the entire lesson. Niall not with you?”

“Ouch. No, he forgot his book, again. Did you want him?”

“No, I’m picking up my dear friends for Defence’. Seeing you is just a happy coincidence.”

Harry snorted, “They’re just in there talking to Binns, shouldn’t be a second. And ‘Dear friends’? Wouldn’t let Zayn hear you say that, not where Perrie’s involved. Or Liam.”

Louis rubbed his jaw, smirking, “No, I don’t have a death wish.” He nodded to the parchment Harry was still holding. “You entering? I’ve been working on mine for  _ ages _ , still feel like I’ve got nothing done.”

“I dunno,” he grimaced, frowning again at the competition poster. “It seems like a lot of work for something that doesn’t count towards our final grade.”

“But think of the glory!” said Louis.

Harry wasn’t completely sure if he was joking or not. He hummed, “I don’t think – Oh, here they come.”

Liam, Perrie and Jade emerged from the classroom to greet them, immediately dragging Louis away down the corridor. Louis shouted over his shoulder, “I’ll see you after lessons? I found a jobberknoll nest down near the forest I want to show you before curfew.”

Harry sent him a thumbs up and stuffed the poster into his pocket, deciding that he would enter the competition. A little glory wouldn’t do him any harm.

“Styles,” someone shouted from across the hall. Jesus, Harry thought, was he ever going to get to Charms? He turned to see Greg St James striding forward, gazed focused on him.

“St James,” he said, cautiously.

The Slytherin sent him strained smile. “Calm down,” he said, holding his hands in the air. “I come in peace.”

“Right,” Harry chuckled nervously. “I’ve actually gotta get to class, so –”

“I saw you talking to Louis just now,” St James interrupted. “You two are getting quite friendly.”

Harry wasn’t sure if it was a question, so he simply shrugged.

St James licked his lips, looking around him shiftily, “Look, I just wanted to say something to you, as Louis’ friend, or, I dunno –” He looked uncomfortable, “I don’t want him to get hurt, okay? It’s weird, you’re objectively, I suppose, quite attractive.” Harry raised his eyebrows as St James continued to talk. “You’re pretty clever, nice, good at Quidditch. You’re popular. Normally, I’d be having to hold Louis back from jinxing your arse to kingdom come, just for being a self-righteous Gryffindor. But, for whatever reason, he seems to like you.”

“Well, that’s good, isn’t it?” Harry said, confused.

“Yeah, it’s great. I’m just saying you better treat him well, or else. He’s one of my favourites.”

As St James was a good half a foot taller than Harry, Harry nodded and stepped backwards, “’Course I will, thanks for the input. Er, I’ll just go now, then.” He turned on the spot and marched down the corridor without giving St James a chance to make any more threats.

By the time Harry was rushing up the stairs to Charms, he was already five minutes late. Just as he was about to reach the top of the stairs he felt a shudder and the staircase started to move towards a completely different corridor.

Several students behind him moaned and Harry growled in frustration, “Oh, for fuck’s sake.” As much as he loved it, sometimes magic really got on his nerves.

~

Finally,  _ finally _  it was time for the first Quidditch match of the year; Gryffindor versus Slytherin. Usually a match between these two teams that would have Harry riled up into a determined frenzy, however this year he was simply looking forward to a good game and was eager to get back on the pitch.

On the Saturday of the match Harry strolled into the Great Hall and immediately soaked in the buzz only an imminent Quidditch match could conjure. Jesy walked by him and slapped his backside. “Better win, Styles,” she yelled, pointing a stern finger at him. “I’ve got five galleons riding on you.”

“I’ll do my best,” he chuckled before spotting his mates at the Ravenclaw table.

As Harry drew closer he gaped unabashedly at Zayn’s appearance. “What? I think green’s my colour,” said Zayn loftily, in response to Harry’s questioning look. The Ravenclaw was sitting next to Liam, clad in a Slytherin scarf and hat with tiny serpents painted onto his cheeks.

“You traitor,” Harry gasped, containing his smirk.

“Zayn, you beauty!” came Louis’ voice, shouting across the Great Hall. “I didn’t think you’d actually do it.” He bounded towards the Ravenclaw table, his grin so wide it looked almost painful. He was already wearing his Slytherin Quidditch robes and Harry had enough objectivity left before the match to appreciate how good he looked in them. His eyes flicked down briefly to where Louis’ Quidditch trousers hugged his thighs. Louis pinched Harry’s side as he walked past, sending him a sly smile.

Zayn stood, arms outstretched to show off his outfit. “I said I would, didn’t I?”

“Nice snakes,” Louis said as he leaned in for a closer look.

“Cheers. Did them myself.”

Harry coughed, “Alright, alright. We’re all very pleased that Zayn has made an effort.” Harry sent Zayn a glare, “More than he ever did for Gryffindor. But can we please remember that Gryffindor is the ultimate team and will destroy all opposition.” His gaze landed on Louis as he finished his sentence.

Louis scoffed, stepping backwards to his own table. “Yeah, yeah. Keep it up, Styles. We’ll see who’s laughing later. That’s Gryffindor’s problem, that is. Always too cocky.” Harry stuck his tongue out and Louis laughed loudly. “See you later, you silly beggar.”

“Good luck, Louis!” Liam shouted from behind Harry and Zayn, munching through a pile of sausages. Louis winked, giving him thumbs up just before Harry whacked him over the head.

“Et tu, Brutus?” Harry said dramatically. He clutched his chest and Zayn smiled indulgently at him.

Liam frowned, rubbing his head, “Who to what?”

“Never mind, just go and find your Gryffindor flag,” he said before heading off to the Gryffindor table to have a breakfast with the rest of the team. “I’m counting on you!”

Having piled his plate high with several helpings of bacon and eggs, Harry was about to dig in when someone next to him coughed, pointedly. He turned, knife and fork in hand, to see Daisy Blythe sending him a sheepish look. Daisy was a timid forth year who had joined the Gryffindor Quidditch team as Seeker the same year as Harry. He always thought she was incredibly sweet.

Harry smiled, “You alright, Daisy?”

She looked nervously over to the rest of the team. When Harry followed her gaze he noticed that none of them met her eye. “Er, yeah. Thanks, Harry.” She tucked her long hair behind her ear. “I just wanted to make sure, you know, now that you’re, um – Well, now that you’re friends or whatever with Tomlinson that, you know, it isn’t, like, going to affect your game, or anything,” she trailed off upon seeing Harry’s thunderous expression.

Harry could feel himself going red. “For the sake of the team, Daisy, I’m going to forget that you just asked me that.” He lent forward, jaw set. “And, just for the record, perhaps you’ll remember how you’ve played against Chris before, yeah? He’s your boyfriend and nobody’s ever thought it was a problem. I can’t believe – No, you know what?” he stopped himself short, turning back to his plate. “It doesn’t matter. Of course it won’t affect my game. It won’t affect his either.”

Daisy bit her lip, bashfully, “Right. Sorry, of course. I didn’t mean – Sorry.”

“It’s alright.”

Castor Soller, one of the team’s Chasers, nudged his foot. “Hey, we know it’ll be fine.” Castor sent a glare in Daisy’s direction and the girl ducked her head over the table.

As Harry nodded he could feel Niall watching him from down the bench. Ignoring him, he shoved a forkful of bacon into his mouth and chewed crossly.

The tension in the team completely vanished, however, as they crossed the Entrance Hall and made their way to the Quidditch stadium. It was replaced instead with an anxious bubble of excitement and adrenaline. Harry squinted up at the stands from the edge of the pitch, he thought he could make out his friends in the far corner, Zayn’s green attire standing out against the sea of red and gold.

Poll gave them a quick pre-match talk, which consisted mainly of her explaining the many ways she would make all their lives hell if they lost, and Madam Tudor was calling them over to take their positions. The crowd was cheering deafeningly, loud chants breaking out in sections here and there.

Harry mounted his broom, swinging his Beater’s bat in his hand as Poll and the Slytherin Captain, Arthur Derwent, shook hands. Madam Tudor’s voice rose above the spectators, “Mount your brooms.” Harry found his eyes searching Louis out in the wall of green ahead of him. Louis eyes’ were scanning the crowd. When their gaze met Louis grinned and made a swiping motion across his neck before pointing towards Harry. Harry shook his head, smirking.

Then the balls were released. Harry knew his role and that was to protect his team. He ignored the Snitch, he ignored the Quaffle and he focus solely on the Bludgers. He set off in fast paced pursuit.

Thirty minutes later and the match was being fiercely fought. Slytherin were in the lead, sixty points to twenty and Gryffindor’s Chasers were lagging. Harry was hitting a Bludger in the direction of one of the Slytherin Chasers, who was flying with the Quaffle towards the Gryffindor goal hoops. He thought he’d managed to knock them off course until he saw Louis flying close to the ground and ascend suddenly, Quaffle in hand, to score. Harry fought hard to feel more annoyed than impressed. That must’ve been his fifth goal of the game so far.

He glared as, minutes later, St James blocked a Gryffindor attempt on the Slytherin goal hoops.

The commentary filled the stadium, the magically magnified voice bouncing off the stands and high into the sky. “Slytherin are pushing ahead now with a strong attack,” the commentator said. His words were rushed and filled with excitement. “They’re in the lead ninety points to thirty. Gryffindor need to get their act together if they want to present a real threat to the reigning champions.”

Harry pushed down on his broom, going into a steep dive in order to avoid a speeding Bludger sent his way by one of the Slytherin Beaters. The black ball narrowly missed the top of his head and he felt the ends of his hair ripple in its wake. Turning around he saw the Bludger head back his way for a second go. Swinging his bat in anticipation he gave the ball an almighty whack, hitting it all the way to the other end of the pitch, where one of the Slytherin Chasers was speeding towards Poll.

Just then he heard Ebun Michaels, the Gryffindor Keeper, swear loudly in the open air. Turning towards the Gryffindor end of the pitch he was just in time to see Louis grinning and flying past one of the other Slytherin Chasers, giving her a high five.

Slytherin had scored again. Jesus, Harry thought. They were getting thrashed.

It appeared that the rest of the team were thinking the same thing, as they started to push harder and faster into the Slytherin defence.

Harry was shouting over to his fellow Beater when the crowd erupted in yells. Immediately he realised what they were looking at. Both teams’ Seekers, Daisy and Derwent, were leaning almost horizontally on their brooms, tearing hell for leather towards a point near the foot of one of the goal hoops.

He couldn’t see exactly what happened, but he knew that Daisy must’ve caught the Snitch when he heard a booming, “GRYFFINDOR WINS!” The crowd roared as the commentator announced the score. “One hundred and eighty points to one hundred and ten points.”

Harry landed, running towards the rest of the team before he’d even properly dismounted his broom. “Yes!” he yelled, finally ditching his broom and bat. “I told you!” He jumped into a group hug with his teammates, the growing applause from the stands filling their ears.

“I can’t believe it!” Poll laughed. “I thought we were done for after about nine Slytherin goals. Sorry Daisy, should’ve had more faith!”

Daisy blushed at the compliment before being enveloped in yet more hugs.

The Gryffindor team made their way back to the common room, their celebrations slowing them down and the large crowd of people surrounding them blocking them, not unwelcomed, at every turn. Harry broke away from Castor Soller’s celebratory head lock when he saw Louis lingering at the opposite end of the corridor with his broomstick over his shoulder, looking unsure.

“Louis,” he said, jogging over. “Alright, man? Good game. You’re not mad at me?” As he approached the other boy it had suddenly occurred to him that Louis might actually be genuinely upset that Harry had beat him.

He was relieved when Louis simply scoffed, “That was just a warm up for the real thing.”

“You were robbed?” Harry said, unable to keep the smile from his face.

Louis rubbed his jaw, spreading mud across his face, “Something like that. We’ll catch up, don’t you worry.”

“Oh, I wasn’t worried.” Louis looked a little awkward, eyeing the large crowd just beyond Harry’s shoulder. “You know,” Harry started. “I haven’t actually seen you play since the trials. You’re really good, it’s like you haven’t been away at all.”

“You think?” Louis’ blue eyes glowed against his dirty face.

“Yeah. I’m sure the crowd were pleased to have you back. Tends to be a lot more interesting to watch when people score goals.”

“Thanks, Harry.” Harry heard his name yelled behind him, echoing down the corridor. He ignored it. Usually he thought the best bit about winning a Quidditch match was the celebration afterwards, but today he thought he’d rather stay with Louis. Louis had other ideas, it seemed. “I think your friends want you,” he said, his smile not quite reaching his eyes. “Enjoy the celebrations, yeah? Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

Harry grabbed Louis’ hand as he turned away, “Wait.” Louis glanced down at where there hands were clasped together, but didn’t pull away. Harry squeezed tighter. “Maybe I can see you later?” he asked, the Quidditch victory making him feel almost fearless.

Louis’ brow crumpled, “What, later tonight?”

Harry nodded, “Yeah. Look, meet me in the courtyard, okay. At eleven?”

There was a slight pause before Louis answered. “Okay.”

“Great.” Harry still had a hold of Louis’ hand in his own. Louis was watching him carefully. Harry was about to step forward, not sure himself what he was intending to do, when they were interrupted.

“Inspired!” Liam’s voice broke free from the throng of chanting Gryffindors. Louis had taken several steps away from Harry by the time Liam reached them. “What a match to kick it all off,” Liam grinned at Harry. Spotting Louis, covered in mud and hair in disarray, he jumped on him and gave him a giant hug. “You were brilliant too, Louis,” he said. “It’s just a shame you couldn’t both win. You both deserved to.”

Louis laughed, patting Liam on the back. “Alright, Li. Thanks. Time heals all wounds.” He jerked his thumb over his shoulder, “I’m just gonna hit the baths then, you know, go and cry in the dungeons with my teammates.”

“Bye,” Liam and Harry said together. Harry watched Louis disappear into a corridor behind a large tapestry before getting drawn into yet another team bundle, yelling and crushing and jumping.

~

Harry stuffed his hands in his pockets, toying with the old stone wall of the courtyard fountain with his foot. As it crumbled he heard the imposing courtyard door slam shut. Louis’ small form was silhouetted in the dim light of the moon.

“Hey, stranger. Done with all your crying?”

Louis frowned at him for a moment, before he understood, “Oh, yeah. Well the luxury of the prefect’s bathroom often helps put minor issues like losing to Gryffindor into perspective. Might take Greg a little longer to forgive you though.”

“Really?” Harry asked, following Louis as he walked over to a small alcove.

“Uhuh. I’d watch out to be honest, he’s probably planning to jinx one of you next chance he gets.”

Harry meant to say that he’d keep his eye open, but what came out of his mouth was not that at all. “You smell nice,” he said, words rushed.

He could’ve sworn that Louis blushed. “You’re smelling me?”

At once Harry heard Zayn’s voice in his head, mocking him for  _ actually smelling Louis’ hair _ . “No,” he said immediately. “I mean, I’m not – Not deliberately, it’s just quite powerful.”

Louis shifted on the spot. “Sorry, I had to scrub pretty hard to get all the dirt off.”

Harry swallowed, “Don’t apologise, it’s fine. It’s – Um, yeah. Thanks for coming.”

“No worries.” Louis reached out a hand to nudge at Harry’s chest. “Are you alright? You seem nervous.”

“I’m fine.”

“Are we sneaking out after curfew for a reason, or did you just want me all to yourself?” Louis said, his smile bright in the dark night.

Harry’s heart was beating loudly in his ears. “I just wanted you all to myself. I – God, I don’t really – I’m rubbish at this stuff,” he glanced up at Louis who was staring at him, face impassive. “I really like you, Louis.”

Louis laughed, as if Harry had just made a joke. “Aw. Harry, I like you too.”

“No, I –” Harry bit his lip, unsure of how to say what he felt. “I mean I  _ like you. _  I don’t – I thought maybe you felt the same way. Do you?”

He didn’t think he’d ever been more nervous in his life. Not when his granddad had found him poised to drop his car keys down the drain, not when his mum had caught him cutting his sister’s hair in her sleep, not even when their neighbour had found him magically turning his dog pink.

Louis hadn’t said anything, he hadn’t even moved. He just kept looking at Harry with that blank stare. After a moment Harry decided, in for a sickle, in for a galleon. Besides, he couldn’t stop himself anymore. He stepped forward, pressing his lips to Louis’.

Immediately he felt Louis’ body stiffen against him. Harry kissed Louis gently, his lips tingling where they touched. He cupped Louis’ face with his hand and felt Louis lean into him, his heart leaping in his chest when he felt Louis’ lips move against his own. Then, the other boy was pulling away. Somehow, Harry thought, Louis seemed to look smaller to him. His eyes were rounder, his hair sticking up at the back, where Harry must’ve ruffled it.

Louis blinked up at him, the starlight illuminating his features in a delicate glow. He wore an expression that Harry couldn’t read. He remained still, leant against the wall, as he asked, “Why did you do that?” His tone wasn’t angry but sounded more like quiet desperation. Harry immediately felt as though he’d stumbled upon something bigger than he’d first intended.

Harry gave a nervous smile, gazed flicking between Louis’ eyes and his reddened lips. “Because I wanted to,” he said, simply.

It was a few seconds before Louis replied. The gentle bubble of water in the fountain filled the silence. Louis cocked his head and gazed at Harry, a sad smile playing on his lips, “And you always just do what you want?”

As he watched, Harry could see Louis shutting down in front of him. He became sharper, sterner and altogether harsher in a mere moment. Harry scrambled for purchase, “I’m sorry, I thought – If you’re not into guys, that’s fine.”

Louis’ mouth thinned and his jaw clenched, “We’ve had classes together for over four years, you know, and you’ve only now started to notice me. I –” Louis paused before shrugging and sighing, “I’ll see you in class, Harry, okay.”

But you kissed me back, Harry thought desperately. He hadn’t imagined it, Louis had definitely kissed him back. Harry stood, watching Louis disappear beyond the courtyard and wondered how on earth he could have got it so wrong.

~

The next day, when the early morning light broke through into the Gryffindor dormitories, Harry defiantly dragged the heavy curtains of his four poster bed closed and pulled his duvet over his face. He was never getting out of bed again. He was too humiliated.

It was almost midday when Harry eventually rolled out of bed. He pulled a hoodie on, stuck his wand in his pocket and slung his school bag over his shoulder. As much as his world was in a relative state of apocalypse, he wasn’t certain it would be a good enough excuse to get out of doing his homework.

The Gryffindor common room was fairly empty, with a handful of tired looking students tucked into the corners, hunched over long rolls of parchment. Harry rallied a little when he saw Liam and Zayn sitting in the comfiest chairs by the fireplace.

He was about to question where Niall was when the boy in question barged through the portrait hole, looking flustered, his face flushed red.

“Bloody Peeves,” he said, fuming. “Seriously. I hate that,  _ that thing! _ ”

“Poltergeist” said Zayn, continuing to read the great paving-slab of a book resting on his knees.

Niall sat down next to Harry. “I don’t care, he’s evil. He just tipped an entire bottle of lacewing flies over my head. He’s a fucking menace, I’ll be washing them out of my hair for days.” He shook his head, causing several small flies to drop to the floor.

Normally the Gryffindor common room, with its high ceiling and comfy arms chairs, coupled with listening to Niall prattle on about whatever was going on in his life would be Harry’s idea of time well spent. Today though, his miserable mood wouldn’t be shifted.

“So, I saw Louis in the library this morning,” Zayn interrupted Niall’s babble, levelling Harry with a steady glare. “He looked like he’d just been told Christmas had been cancelled. Wouldn’t have anything to do with you and your little late night rendezvous, would it?”

Harry brought his knees up to his chest and muttered, “I don’t want to talk about it.”

Liam and Niall both turned to him. “Is that what’s got you all sad?” Niall asked, flicking a fly off his trousers.

“I said I  _ don’t _  want to talk about it, Niall,” Harry glared.

Liam set his quill to one side and looked at Harry, bewildered. “What happened? You were all excited about it.”

Harry had been hoping he could just pretend it hadn’t happened and go back to normal with Louis, but the guys would never let him get away with it. He sighed, “I – Maybe I made a bit of a mistake.”

“You didn’t tell him about your gnome collection. I _  told _  you you’re better keeping that stuff to yourself,” Liam groaned.

Harry shoved him. “I didn’t mention my gnomes. And it’s not weird, Liam. They’re cute, my mum agrees with me,” he pouted.

Liam laughed, “They’re not cute, Harry. They –”

“Liam! Stay on point. What did you do?” Zayn said, voice thin, jabbing a finger into Harry’s arm.

Harry squawked, “Nothing!” Zayn’s glare didn’t let up and Harry slumped his shoulders. “Fine. I may have, possibly … kissed him.”

Niall lent forward, resting on his haunches. “Yeah?” he asked eagerly.

“What do you mean, ‘yeah’?” Harry stared at him, wide eyed. “He didn’t particularly appreciate it, if I’m honest.”

Liam looked aghast. “What? But, I thought you two had a thing.”

“Well, so did I. But, apparently not,” said Harry, rubbing at his face.

“He wasn’t mean to you, or anything?” Zayn asked, as a first year came running down from the dormitories.

Harry waited until the portrait door swung shut again before answering. “No, he was fine. He just – Ugh, Zayn, I’m so embarrassed. I made an absolute fool of myself.” He looked up at his friends’ sympathetic faces. “How am I supposed to look him the eye ever again!?”

Zayn rolled his eyes. It was clear he was trying not to smirk. “Don’t be so melodramatic. It’ll be fine. Did he actually say that he wasn’t interested?”

He let an exasperated moaned. “Not in so many words. It was  _ implied _ .”

Niall raised his hands in irritation. “I don’t understand this.” He waved his finger at Liam. “I even spoke to Bethan Dickens, you know, the other Slytherin prefect? With the frizzy hair? She said that he’d never shown any interest in the girls.”

Liam grimaced, giving a small shrug, “Well, not much to choose from is there.”

Harry wailed, “Oh, I’ve cocked it all up. What was I thinking!? Why didn’t you stop me!?”

“Hey, you can still recover your friendship, right?” Liam said suddenly. He pouted, “I’ve grown pretty attached to Louis, I’d miss him if he left.” He let out a surprised laugh, “A Slytherin, can you imagine?”

The three boys all turned to Harry, looking concerned. Harry heaved a sigh and curled up into a tighter ball, staring ruefully into the crackling fire. “I – Yeah. I’ll make it up to him. He wasn’t mad. It was – It’ll be okay. We’ll be friends, that’s fine. I just – I really thought he liked me. Stupid.”

Zayn shuffled closer to him, wrapping an arm around his shoulder, “You’re not stupid, Haz. You’re just hopeful. Nothing wrong with that.”

Harry hummed, “If you say so. Doesn’t feel too great right now.”

And so when Harry reached the dungeons outside the Potions classroom the following Monday he approached Louis with determination and not a small amount of embarrassment.

Louis said he was fine with it, that he accepted Harry’s apology. He said that Harry didn’t even need to apologise, that he should be the one apologising for being so insensitive about it. He said he was glad they could still be best friends. 

Harry worried his lip as Louis spoke.  _ Best friends _ .

Just like that, they were talking and laughing again. But something flickered behind Louis’ eyes and Harry felt sure he was hiding something more. Even after Louis’ words he still felt like it was different between them. Harry had revealed his true feelings and he couldn’t cover them up again. They were there now, out in the open for all the world to see.

As Harry made a subdued journey from Potions to Care of Magical Creatures with the rest of the Gryffindors, Niall squeezed his shoulder, “It’ll be fine. Give it a week and you’ll be right back to normal. ‘Sides if you tried to snog me, I’d take it as a compliment. Dunno what’s got him all worked up.”

~

Niall was right, of course.

“I’m always right,” he lamented over dinner one evening to Ed and Castor. “They just never bloody listen to a single work I say.”

It was the beginning of December and a festive cheer had already begun to permeate around the castle. Harry had spotted Glendon Horan that very morning shouting at Hufflepuff’s resident ghost, the Fat Friar, for singing carols too merrily down the hallways.

Castor rolled his eyes at Niall as Harry chuckled around his mouthful of toad in the hole. They were discussing Ravenclaw’s recent Quidditch defeat against Hufflepuff. “Oh, you did not know that Hufflepuff would win any more than the rest of us,” Castor said.

“I did.”

“So you knew that half of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team would come down with dragon pox and the reserves would have to play?”

“Uhuh,” Niall nodded, wide grin showing off his teeth.

Ed leaned forward, joining in, “And by the same logic, you  _ knew _  that the new Hufflepuff Seeker was the fastest thing this school’s since on a broom since Potter himself.”

“Yep,” said Niall, popping the ‘p’.

“There’s no way –”

Harry coughed, “I’d give it up guys. He’s been like this since the match. Louis already almost burst a blood vessel trying to get some sense out of him.”

“Fine,” Ed let out a dramatic sigh and stood up to leave. “We’ll see you later at Defence Club. Is Louis coming?” he asked, curiously.

Harry slung his bag over his shoulder, waiting for Niall to drain his goblet “Nah, he’s still working on his Potions project. Apparently he’s ‘in the zone’ and isn’t to be disturbed.”

Ed laughed, “Yeah, he’s an odd one, that Tomlinson. But, like, in a good way, you know?”

“I do know, yes.”

As much as his feelings for the boy continued to play on Harry’s mind and his heart still fluttered in his chest every time Louis so much as looked at him, the tension between the two of them had happily died out. Now all Harry had to contend with was Louis spending every hour of the day on his Potions project. He’d hardly seen him at all in the past week, he was beginning to suspect Louis was actually camping out in the library. He had tried to make Liam break curfew and check, but the Hufflepuff prefect had refused to break the rules.

Harry had finished his own project last weekend. Thankfully the deadline was tomorrow and the house winners would be announced in Potions class on Friday, so he was safe in the knowledge that he would have his friend back by the end of the week.

Friday rolled around with unusual haste that week, perhaps sensing Harry’s unspoken pleas.

It wasn’t until they were tiding up their work at the end of the lesson that Professor Debussy clapped her hands for everybody’s attention. “Class! Class, before you all leave, I need to announce the Gryffindor and Slytherin winners of this year’s Potions competition.”

Louis sat back down on his stool almost instantly. Harry spied the Slytherin’s leg bouncing up and down nervously and nudged him lightly before giving him a wink.

As the other students sat back down, looking on the whole like whoever the winners turned out to be should run and hide for making them wait so long to leave, the professor picked up a heavy pile of parchment.

“Okay,” she said, breathlessly. “Well, all of the projects submitted this year were of a very high calibre, they truly were and often from people I did not expect. The two pupils I’ve picked as winners are, however, the crème of the crop and will get forty points each for their really rather marvellous efforts.” She smiled at the class. “So, without further ado, the fifth year winner for Slytherin house is …”

Harry sent a sideways glance to Louis, just to check he was still breathing.

“… Marcus Wren!”

The entire class was dumbstruck, with Wren himself smiling smugly from his seat at the back. Louis looked so disappointed, Harry felt terrible.

“Well done Mr Wren,” the professor continued, oblivious to the en masse bafflement of her students. She held up the stack of parchment and started to give an impassioned speech about how Marcus had really understood the importance in the development of Nux Myristica within potion making in the last century, but Harry had stopped listening.

He was looking at Louis. The prefect’s expression had turned from one of crestfallen muddlement to unmitigated indignation in mere seconds. He was staring, unblinkingly, at the bundle of parchment Professor Debussy was holding up. After a second Harry realised why. That was Louis’ handwriting. From the top of the page to the bottom;  _ that was Louis’ work _ .

“Harry Styles!”

Harry didn’t notice the professor calling his name out, he hadn’t even realised that she was still talking. Jesy had to give him a sharp shove before he looked over to the front of the dungeon and saw his own project being presented. Holy shit, he thought. He’d won.

“Oh,” was all he could say.

He was struggling to think of an appropriate response when a blur of movement in the corner of his eye distracted him. Before he knew it the room was filled with the echoing screams and yells of students and the desperate barking out of, “Stop that. You two! You stop that now, both of you!” from Professor Debussy.

Louis had dived onto Wren, fists first. Their wands were lying on the floor next to them, completely forgotten as they scuffled on the cold dungeon floor.

Just as the professor aimed her wand at the two struggling Slytherins Harry shot forward, hauling Louis off the floor and away from Wren. Louis pulled away, sending a glare to Wren. His lip was bleeding and Wren looked like he had the beginnings of a rather impressive black eye. Louis picked up his wand and bag from the floor and marched out of the classroom door without sparing so much as a momentary look back.

Harry pulled a pleading face at Professor Debussy, who looked stunned at the violent turn the class had taken. He mentally begged her not to take any points away from Louis or from himself, before he ran out of the door, hot on Louis’ heels.

He caught up with him in a deserted corridor near the Ravenclaw tower. “Louis!” he shouted, panting. “Louis, wait. Please!”

Louis didn’t falter. “Just go away, Harry!” he yelled. “Fuck off, seriously. Just leave me alone,  _ please _ . I don’t want to see you.”

Harry sped up, grabbing Louis’ arm and pulling him to a stop. “Louis, look, what Wren did was bang out of order, mate. He shouldn’t –”

“I don’t care about Wren,” Louis yelled, shrugging off Harry’s hand. “I don’t care about any of that. He was just there.”

“Then, what?” Harry stopped short, brow furrowed. “Why did you kick off?”

“Because of you!” Louis shouted, spinning to face Harry.

Harry blinked, “Me? Is this about that kiss? Because I’ve already apologised for that, I –”

“No, it’s – You didn’t even – I spent weeks on that bloody project, you saw me.” Louis seemed to struggle to get the words out. “I didn’t even know you’d submitted anything,” he said, clearly upset.

Harry was baffled, “Sorry, are you angry because you don’t think I work as hard as you?”

“No, I’m angry because you don’t know the value of anything. You think you’re so fantastic. Right little social butterfly. Everyone likes Harry, nobody has a bad word to say about Harry. Isn’t he talented? Isn’t he nice? Isn’t he charming? No one has ever said that about me.” Louis stopped for breath, dragging his hands through his hair. “And do you know what makes it worse? I can’t even hate you for it, because it’s all true. And you don’t even try! It’s not even hard for you!” he cried out. “You  _ are _  talented and nice and charming and just lovely, you’re so lovely. You just  _ are  _ and I’m scared.” Louis turned so he was facing Harry directly, saying in a defeated voice, “You’re so good, Harry, and I’m just not. You’re gonna realise it sooner or later.”

Harry paused. He couldn’t lie to himself, Louis being mad at him for succeeding hurt, but he pushed his own feelings to one side at the look on Louis face. He didn’t look mad or upset anymore, he simply looked weary. Like he’d had enough of the world around him.

He’d called Harry lovely.

“I’m jealous. I’m just jealous,” Louis said weakly, staring at the floor.

Harry rushed forward. “You don’t need to be, Louis. I’d never – I would never hurt you. You’re more than good enough. I don’t care what you think, it’s my opinion that matters, okay?” he said, words tumbling out of his mouth one after the other. “No one’s ever said nice things about you? I’ll say them. I’ll say them to you now and I’ll say them to you every day, Louis. You’re beautiful, you’re clever, you’re funny, you’re kind. You have the most perfect smile. You think I’m lovely?” he asked, voice thick. “I think you’re lovelier. And I’ll never let you forget it, Louis, no matter how much you try and make me. I know the value of you, trust me.”

“Harry –”

“I can still think you’re lovely if we’re friends. Don’t you dare try and tell me what I can feel,” Harry said sternly.

Louis’ reply was quiet, echoing around the staircase, “You’re making fun of me.”

“I’m not. I remember you told me, when we first met, that you weren’t important. I couldn’t believe it when you said that. Someone as amazing as you, thinking they were irrelevant? You are important, Louis. I can’t bear the thought that someone’s told you you’re not.”

Louis laughed, humourlessly, “You’d known me about five seconds. You barely had the time to think I was relatively amiable, let alone amazing.”

“Well you’re wrong. Five seconds was more than enough. I knew you were amazing after two, I just used the remaining three to bask in your beauty.”

On the wall next to where the two of them were talking a painting showed a small man sitting under an apple tree. At Harry’s words the man laughed loudly. He had decorated his tree with Christmas baubles.

“Shut up,” Louis spat out.

Harry was almost certain he was talking to the man in the painting, though he continued to tread carefully. “I’m being serious. I think you’re incredible and I don’t care what anyone else thinks, as long as you keep on thinking I’m lovely, I’m set for life.” He gave Louis a small smile.

“Okay,” the Slytherin said, worrying his bottom lip. He sucked in a breath, “We should get back. I’ve probably already got a detention for causing a scene, don’t need to make it worse now.” He paled as he said, “Father’s going to kill me when he finds out.”

“I’ll tell Debussy that you did the work for the project,” Harry offered. “She’d believe me. I mean, of course she would, it’s true.”

Louis shook his head, and started to walk back down the corridor. “Thanks but there’s no point. Doesn’t matter anyway, it doesn’t go towards our final grade.”

“No, but you did the work. You won, not that idiot Wren,” Harry said, suddenly angry on Louis’ behalf.

“Harry, it’s fine. Thanks for offering. I’m – I’m sorry. I didn’t mean – Before,” Louis looked up at him through his fringe, sheepishly. “I know you work hard, I just–” Louis sighed and pinched Harry’s wrist gently as they walked side by side. “Congratulations on the prize, I mean it. I’m sorry, I’m like a spoilt brat causing all that fuss about it. I just worked so fucking hard of the stupid,  _ fucking  _ project.”

Louis came to an unexpected halt in the empty corridor, biting his lip and staring at Harry. Harry stepped over to him cautiously. “You alright?” Louis nodded before pushing forwards and engulfing Harry in a hug.

Harry froze. Although they’d been friends for a good while now, Louis had never hugged him before. Sure, they’d touched each other, Harry tried painfully hard to push the memories of that night by the fountain out of his mind, but they’d never hugged. This was different. This was warm and soft and  _ Louis _ . After a seconds indecision Harry melted into it, wrapping his arms around Louis and pressing his nose against the soft hair behind his ear.

Harry was so hopelessly in love with Louis and he didn’t have a clue what to do about it.

~

“Do you think I should go to Madam Fitzgerald and ask for a cure?”

“I,” Zayn sighed, “am going to regret this, I know it. A cure for what, Harry?”

“Love,” said Harry, wistfully. “I’m in deep, non-requitable love, Zayn. It’s an illness.”

Zayn simply shook his head and muttered, “’Non-requitable’. Not even a bloody word,” under his breath.

Harry whined. “Liam, you’ll help me. He hugged me, Liam. He said I was lovely.  _ What does it mean _ ?”

“That he thinks you’re lovely? I dunno,” Liam shrugged. “Maybe you should just ask him.” Harry let out a frustrated growl. Liam chose to ignore him, shoving on his woolly hat and waving across the Entrance Hall. “Oi, Niall! Louis! Over here!”

It was the last Hogsmeade visit before everyone left for the Christmas holidays the next day and the boys were planning on making the most of it. They headed down the long path, Liam, Niall and Zayn taking the lead. Harry suspected they’d done it deliberately. He didn’t mind so much when Louis fell into step beside him, though, stealing sly glances when he thought Harry wasn’t looking.

“Do I have something on my face?” Harry asked.

Louis sucked in his cheeks, ducking his head as he kicked at the thick snow on the ground. “No,” he laughed. “I just wanted to say sorry, again, for my meltdown the other day.” He looked up at Harry, warily.

“You don’t have to keep apologising, it’s fine.”

“I do. Just –” Louis said, squinting in the bright light reflected off the white snow. “Sometimes it all gets a little much. Thank you for being so nice about it.”

Harry watched ahead of them as Liam attempted to shove a snowball down the back of Zayn’s coat, only for Zayn to hit him with a particularly strong tickling charm. Harry shrugged as Niall guffawed loudly. “We’ve all got our things, yeah?” he said. “If you must know, I collect gnomes.”

Louis laughed out loud and Harry revelled in the sound, in the brightness in his face, in the gleam behind his eyes.

“That’s your ‘thing’?” said Louis, incredulously. “Collecting gnomes? Merlin’s beard, even your bad qualities are adorable.”

Harry pushed him gently off the path, “Hey. It’s not adorable. It’s –”

“Please don’t say manly,” Louis interrupted, clearly amused.

Harry raised his head. “I wasn’t going to,” he lied. “It’s courageous.”

“Courageous?”

Harry sniffed, “They bite.”

Louis chortled just as the Three Broomsticks came into sight. Niall shouted over his shoulder, “Pub first, or pub last?”

“Pub last,” Harry yelled. “I want to get my shopping over and done with.”

“Alright, you’re the boss,” Niall said.

Harry heard Zayn scoff, “He is not the boss. Don’t give him ideas.”

They spent several hours exploring the shops before heading back to the pub. The entire village was packed with students and Harry and Louis lost the other three pretty quickly. They decided just to head to the pub once they were done and meet them there.

When they arrived Harry breathed in the familiar, welcoming feeling the Three Broomsticks always gave him. The others weren’t there yet so he and Louis got their drinks and headed to a corner booth by the window.

“I bought you something,” Harry said, delving into one of his many shopping bags.

Louis raised his eyebrows, “When did you? I was with you the whole time!”

“I can sneaky when I wanna be,” Harry teased, placing a large square box on the table between them.

Louis slumped in his seat, “Harry, you didn’t have to. I haven’t got you anything.”

“That doesn’t matter. I just saw it and thought of you. Plus, I know it’s your birthday before Christmas as well, so it can be, like, a combined present.”

“Who told you it was my birthday?” Louis asked him, eyes narrow.

“I’m afraid I can’t reveal my sources,” Harry said, tone light.

“It was Perrie wasn’t it?”

Harry paused. “Yes, it was. That’s not the point. C’mon, open it!”

“Now? Shouldn’t I wait?”

“No. I have the world’s worst patience, humour me.”

“Alright,” Louis laughed, pulling the box towards him. “But if I get struck by lightning or something tomorrow, I’m blaming you.”

“I accept liability for all lightning strikes,” Harry nodded sagely. “Do you like it?”

Louis’ mouth dropped as he stared into the open box. “Harry, it’s brilliant,” he breathed. “Where did you find this?”

Harry grinned at his astonished expression. He had undone the dark blue ribbon around the black box and lifted the lid to reveal an old and worn Quaffle, signed by the entire Tutshill Tornadoes team after their nineteen ninety-five win in the Quidditch League.

“Spintwitches. It’s the actual Quaffle they won with,” he said. “Well, Spintwitches actually had the Quaffle from the nineteen ninety-eight winners, I saw it last time I was here. But I wrote to her to see if she could track down this one and she said it would be pretty simple. Apparently the Snitches are more collectable, so,” he shrugged, still smiling.

“There’s Finwick and Haverhill. And Birch is on here too, blimey. This must’ve cost loads.”

Harry shook his head, “It doesn’t matter. I wanted to get it for you.”

“Harry –” Louis laughed, almost to himself. Sighing, he looked up to Harry and smiled, eyes crinkling. “Thank you,” he said. “Nobody’s ever – I’ll have to hide it from Niall. He still thinks I’m a Kestrels man.” Louis grimaced, rolling the Quaffle around in his hands. “Shit, I can’t get you nothing when you’ve got me this.”

Harry hesitated, wondering if it would be asking too much. Cringing when his voice broke a little, he said, “I’m a simple man. I’d take a hug?”

Louis cocked his head, eyes twinkling in the warm light of the pub, “I can stretch to that, I think.”

He slid out of the booth and came round to sit next to Harry, wrapping his arms around him and burying his grinning face in Harry’s neck. Harry bit his lip, holding on tightly. Louis was so warm and soft and gentle, Harry didn’t want to be away from him. “Come to mine,” he blurted out.

“What?” Louis laughed, pulling away.

Harry rubbed his forehead. “Sorry. I just – Will you come to mine over Christmas? I know it’s short notice and, you know, not for all of it, you could go home first, just for a bit and then Niall’s having a New Year’s party at his?” he babbled. “I want to see you. My parents won’t mind. Please.”

Louis looked torn. “Harry –” he said slowly.

Harry’s stomach dropped, “You don’t want to. That’s okay, that’s fine. Sorry, I shouldn’t have asked.” God, he was so stupid.

“No!” Louis reached out a hand to Harry’s forearm. “No, that’s not it. I’d love to come, I want to say yes. It’s just –” he pulled his hand away again, bringing it to his mouth. “I  _ can’t _ , my father, he wouldn’t approve.”

Harry frowned. “Why wouldn’t he approve? He’s never met me!” he said, feeling a little offended.

“Not you,” Louis rushed. “Just, since last year he doesn’t like me spending time away from home.” Harry looked on in horror as Louis became visibly more upset. “Especially not at another guy’s house. Then if he found out you were gay, he wouldn’t –”

“I’m not – I can control myself. I’m not an animal,” Harry said, jaw set.

“No, I know.  _ Not you _ .” Louis seemed to struggle for the words, “Oh, Merlin. Harry, I – I’m gay.”

Harry blinked. “What?”

“I’m gay,” Louis said, miserably. “I came out to my family last year. That’s why father banned me from the Quidditch team. He didn’t approve, he wanted to punish me.”

“What!?” Harry repeated. He’d never been so incensed.

“I –  _ Please _ , Harry. Don’t make a big deal out of it. It just – It is what it is, yeah?”

“But, he can’t do that! He can’t just – Jesus Christ,  _ Louis! _ ” He couldn’t speak, he was so mad.

“Harry.  _ Harry _ , it’s okay. It’s not the end of the world. He’s just very strict. I’m okay, aren’t I? I just – I just can’t come to yours for Christmas. I’m sorry.”

Harry groaned, “Oh, Louis. You don’t have to apologise. Why didn’t you say anything sooner?”

Louis sank back into his seat. “I guess I was scared.”

Harry almost asked about that night, by the fountain, but he wasn’t brave enough. There was a small silence in which Harry tried to process everything that Louis had just told him. He wasn’t sure how good a job he did. Louis pulled his new Quaffle across the table before looking up at Harry apprehensively. “The others aren’t going to get me presents are they?” he asked uneasily.

Harry swallowed. “Um. They might do,” he replied. On seeing Louis’ troubled face, he added, “Do you want me to ask them not to?”

“It’s just – It’s not that I don’t want to get them stuff, I just can’t really –” His grip tightened where he held the Quaffle. “There’s quite a lot of them,” he finished.

“It’s alright. I’ll have a word. They won’t mind, I promise.” Harry sighed and nudged Louis’ foot with his own. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable, you know. If you need to t –”

“No, I know, I – Please don’t think I don’t love it. I love it, I really do. I – Oh, here comes the cavalry.” Louis quickly placed the Quaffle back in its box as Liam, Niall and Zayn approached, a light dusting of snow covering their coats. They’d gain Perrie and Jade on the way, but the two girls seemed to say goodbye before heading to the other side of the pub.

“I wasn’t talking about the present,” Harry muttered as the other boys greeted them, loudly.

After a tumultuous few minutes where everyone’s bags and coats and hats and scarves got unceremoniously shoved to the floor, Louis looked thoughtfully at the group of them. “It’s cool how you guys are mates. I ‘spose, did you get put together in class or something?” he asked Liam as Zayn shuffled into the booth.

“Has Harry not told you how Niall and I became friends?” Liam asked, looking slightly affronted. Harry pouted, too distracted by his thoughts to really take part in the conversation.

“No.” Louis leaned forward, intrigued. “Is it a good story?”

“Not really. Just typical Niall, to be honest,” Liam grinned, setting down his hot chocolate. “It was back in first year, probably, like, the third week or something?” Liam looked at Harry, who nodded, though really he had no clue. “Anyway, I was a little low on friends. I dunno, I’m not really that confident. I don’t know how to, you know, just  _ approach _  people. Not like Niall. He’ll talk to anyone, about anything, I don’t understand how he does it,” Liam blushed a little. “So, I’m by the lake, right? Just talking to Professor Hagrid, I think he has a habit of collecting misfits.” Louis smirked, nodding along as Liam carried on with the story. “And I spot Niall just standing by that big tree, you know the Ash tree? Standing there, all by himself, looking at me. I thought it was weird. I mean, I’d seen him about, who hadn’t, so bloomin’ loud, but I’d never spoken to him. And there he was, just staring at me. Anyway, I tried to ignore him, I mean, what else would I do? He looked like a proper nutcase.”

“Talking ‘bout me?” Niall asked, returning at that moment from the bar, Butterbeer in hand.

“All bad things.” Liam said to him before turning back to Louis, playful frown on his face, “Who just stands and stares at people? But he wouldn’t stop. Like, he started to just follow me around between lessons. He’d be, like, ten paces behind me at all times. It was mental.”

Niall seemed to have cottoned on to what they were talking about. “Hey! I was  _ trying _  to figure out what you got up to, so I could talk to you.” Harry and Zayn both snorted and Louis smiled widely at them.

“Coulda just asked, like any other sane person would’ve done,” Liam said, in amazement.

“Nah, sounds boring,” said Niall, scrunching up his nose.

Liam rolled his eyes. “One time he even just sat down opposite me in the library. Didn’t say anything, just sat down and looked at me. I think he was trying to be subtle. In the end, I stopped him. I think I said something like ‘If you’re gonna murder me in my sleep and harvest my organs, can you do it sooner rather than later, the suspense is killing my concentration.’”

“What did he say?” Louis asked.

“Just laughed. Said he like my sense of humour. Wasn’t making a joke, if I’m honest. Niall can be proper creepy sometimes.”

Louis eyes widened, flicking his gaze between Niall and Liam. “What, and that’s it? That’s how you became friends?”

“Yeah, can’t get shot of him. Still trying, but he’s pretty stubborn. Ow,” Liam rubbed his arm where Niall had whacked him. He looked to Louis, shy smile on his lips, “What I’m guess I’m trying to say is, you better get used to us as well because it’s too late for you to leave now. You’re stuck with us.”

Harry watched as Louis pressed his lips together, clearly trying to hide how pleased he was. He pulled his legs up to his chest, grinning into his knees. “You’re the sweetest slash creepiest bunch of people I’ve ever known,” he said, voice muffled.

Harry caught Zayn’s eye and saw that the Ravenclaw had an undeniably fond expression on his face as he watched the Slytherin.

Liam sounded altogether smug when he said with a nod, “That’s what we were aiming for.”

They whiled away their afternoon in the pub, regaling Louis with stories of their adventures and making plans for new ones. All too soon it was time to head back to the castle. Not for the first time Harry fought down the urge to bundle Louis in his arms, sneak him into the Gryffindor dormitory and keep him there forever. Away from anyone who was ever mean to him.

Later that evening Harry almost got his wish. He had to work hard to stifle his laughter when Louis crept around the dark entrance to Gryffindor Tower and presented Harry with a sullen looking gnome.

“I saw Hagrid de-gnoming his vegetable patch after dinner and this one was all alone,” he whispered gleefully in the shadowy corridor. “I thought it was like serendipity or something, so I stole him for you. I didn’t think a hug was enough, really. I’ve named him Ebenezer, for obvious reasons.”

Harry took hold of the sulking gnome, being careful not to place his fingers too near its teeth. “My mother,” he said quietly, “would love you. My dad, not so much, but mum definitely. He’s perfect.” He looked down at the gnome in his arms, “Hello, Ebey. I’m gonna take you home to all your new friends.”

He looked up at the sound of Louis’ snorting laughter, “You are such an oddball. I have to get back to the dungeons, but I’ll see you tomorrow, before you leave?”

“Definitely. Louis,” Harry said just before Louis turned to leave. “About today.”

Louis groaned, folding his arms, “Harry, do we have to do this?”

Harry pursed his lips, “Yes. All I wanted to say is, you know, if you need anyone to talk to, about anything, yeah? I’m here.”

Louis nodded. “Right. Okay. Thanks, then. I better go.”

“Yeah,” Harry breathed. “Bye,” he said, waving him off. “Thanks for Ebenezer! Say bye-bye, Ebenezer.”

Louis offered him one last eye roll and gave a small wave to the scowling gnome before walking off into the shadows.

~

Harry watched miserably as Louis strode across platform nine and three quarters to a woman who, Harry assumed, must be his mother. He squinted across the platform, trying to see what she was like and whether she looked kind like Louis did or not.

“Cheer up, Harry,” Zayn said, coming up behind him and squeezing his shoulder. Harry turned away from the Tomlinsons, feeling undeniably dejected.

He’d told the others what Louis had said to him in the pub as soon as they’d got back to the castle. They’d been suitably outraged. Niall had almost tripped and fallen down a flight of stairs when Harry had brought it up. “What a piece of work,” Niall had muttered. “I mean, I knew his dad was a bit domineering, but punishing him? It’s disgusting.” They’d all agreed, however, not to cause a fuss if Louis didn’t want.

Harry grunted in response to Zayn over the loud natter of students being reunited with their families.

“Look, don’t worry about him,” Zayn said. “As long as he knows that we support him, there’s not much else we can do, really? I mean, we can hardly march up to his dad and tell him what a dick he is. Can we?”

“It’s not that,” Harry huffed. “Well, it is that a little bit, but, it’s me. He didn’t reject me because he doesn’t like guys, it’s because he doesn’t like _ me _ .”

Liam let out a breath of laughter from where he was loading a trolley with his bags and his owl’s cage, “Don’t be so stupid Harry.  _ Of course _  he likes you.” He seemed to spot someone in the crowd and waved. “Alright, my dad’s here, I have to go. Merry Christmas! See you at Niall’s, yeah?” he shouted, winding his way through the mass of people.

Zayn gave him a small smile and ruffled his hair, “Don’t let it get you down. I’ll see you at New Year’s.”

“Yeah, alright,” Harry mumbled, trying to summon a smile.

Zayn simply smirked. “Stay safe.”

It took Harry a good few minutes to find his dad and sister. His dad was standing, pressed against the platform wall looking daunted as owls screeched and robes whirled around him. Harry laughed, feeling a little better. This was Christmas, he thought. He shouldn’t be worrying about him and Louis. He decided then to enjoy the break and face Louis when term started again.

And so he did. Just as he expected, his mum loved Ebenezer, who quickly made his home in the expanding gnome burrow they had in the back garden. Harry relented enough in his resolution to tell Georgie all about what had happened with Louis, although all she could really offer was a sympathetic shoulder.

Christmas day came and went with a wash of festive merriment. Harry spent the majority of the day eating chocolate, watching telly and playing board games with his family. He opened his presents from the boys, which consisted of a miniature flying carpet from Liam, a self-boiling mug from Zayn and a harmonica from Niall. Harry laid back the living room floor, watching the tiny flying carpet whiz around the room.

When his mother recruited all of the family to chop up various vegetables for Christmas dinner, they all sang along to the Willard Hollingberry Christmas Show on the Wizarding Wireless Network as was their tradition. Harry felt happy, peaceful and content. With a horrid pang in his chest, he wondered what on earth Louis was doing at that moment in time. Did he have someone at home he could be himself with? Harry shook off the unhappy thoughts and tried to laugh again when his dad pulled his mum into a waltz, twirling her around the kitchen.

~

Something was tapping against Harry’s skull.

“Would some’un tell it t’stop,” Niall groaned to the small room at large.

So maybe not just at Harry’s head, then.

Harry was at Niall’s house for his New Year’s Eve party. Rather, it was Niall’s parents’, Reilly and Maeve Horan’s, New Year’s Eve Party. Niall and Glendon were both simply allowed to invite a handful of friends each year. Harry had arrived, along with Liam, last night by flu-powder. Harry hated travelling by flu-powder with a passion, as anyone who had ever made the mistake of asking him about it would know. Generally, with him, it ended up with bruised elbows, grazed knees and falling out five grates too soon into an elderly witch’s living room. But, since the Horan’s lived in the middle of nowhere, it really was the only way to get to Niall’s house.

Harry grumbled and opened his eyes. The tapping was coming from the closed window of Niall’s bedroom. It was Niall’s long eared owl, Africa, with a letter attached to her leg.

Harry opened the window, letting her fly over to Niall’s bed, before launching himself back under his duvet. “S’for you,” he muttered into his pillow.

Harry heard Niall open the letter, laugh and mumble the word ‘Awesome’, before getting out of bed. “Come on you two,” Niall said loudly, now apparently wide awake. “Zayn’ll be here soon.”

After pulling Liam’s covers all the way off him to wake him up, the three of them trundled downstairs for breakfast. Glendon was already at the table with two of his friends, both of which Harry had recognised by sight only. They’d been introduced last night as Fiona King and Andrew Crawley. They all mumbled sleepy ‘hello’s.

“Hey,” said Niall, pulling a box of cereal towards him, as Harry and Liam sat down either side of him. “You know how Glen had invited Ebun to come along and she couldn’t make it?” Liam nodded. “Well,” Niall continued, grinning. “Mam and dad let me invite someone else in her place. Guess who’s just wrote me to say he’ll be arriving this morning?”

Harry froze, “Niall, no. You haven’t.”

“I have! Louis’ coming. He managed to convince his parents to let him stay, I think it’s ‘cause, you know, we’re family? Sort of.”

Harry groaned, “No! I need to mentally prepare. I have to find out if he likes me or not and it’s a very delicate situation, Horan.”

Glendon grunted from across the table, “Oh, so Tomlinson’s your new fancy man, is he? I was wondering what had Niall scheming like a twelve year old school girl.”

Liam snorted, but Niall was unperturbed, “Well then, this is your chance! You just have to go for it. If he turns you down again I’ll be a hippogriff’s uncle.”

“I’m fairly sure,” Harry said darkly towards Niall. “That is was you told me last time. In case you’ve forgotten that didn’t work out too well.”

Niall waved him off, “That’s just ‘cause he didn’t want anyone to know he was gay. It’s different now, isn’t it? Trust me.”

Harry slumped back in his seat, resigning himself to the inevitable embarrassment he was about to subject himself to. Again.

In the end, Louis arrived about five minutes after Zayn did, stepping out of the Horan’s fireplace with enviable grace. He waved at all of them before spotting Niall’s dad in the corner. “Mr Horan,” he said, beaming. “Hello. Nice to meet you.”

Niall’s dad chuckled, shaking Louis’ hand. “You too, lad. Please, call me Reilly.”

“Thanks for having me, Reilly. It’s a lovely place you have here,” Louis said, nodding around the large, but cosily decorated room.

“Well, thank you very much. It’s an old barn. We converted it when we downsized the farm, we’re just a small-holding now, really.” His voice was soft and unassuming.

Niall mumbled under his breath, “Nothing  _ small _  about it. I was up at five the other morning, feeding the pigs.”

“Niall.”

“I’ve only just got feeling back in my hands!” Niall whined.

Reilly shook his head in despair, “Doesn’t know he’s born, this one.” He turned back to Louis, “Niall tells me you’re one of auntie Jean’s lot?”

“Well, sort of,” Louis scratched at his ear. “Wendy Tomlinson is my grandma. She told me they were sisters.”

“Ah, small world, the wizarding one,” he nodded. “Lost track of that side of the family, really. Still it’s nice to have you, Louis. You’re very welcome here.”

Louis blushed, “Thanks.”

“Right. Well, I’ll leave you fellas to it. Don’t be mucking around or you’ll have your mam to answer to,” he warned, pointing to Niall as he walked back outside and Niall stuck out his tongue at his father’s retreating back. When the living room door swung open the voice of one of Glendon’s friends came travelling into the room. Apparently they’d been lingering in the hallway beyond. “Polite for a Slytherin, ain’t he?”

They all exchanged awkward glances before Niall strode over to Louis and took his bag, “Come on, mate. My room’s miles away.”

They all walked back to Niall’s room, Liam already halfway through telling Zayn and Louis about how he spent Christmas day in Lapland.

“That’s cool,” Louis said, laughing at Liam’s enthusiasm. He turned to Harry, who’d stayed quiet since his arrival, with an expectant smile.

Harry pushed his hair out of his face, “Alright, Louis. How was Christmas?”

Louis shrugged, letting the other three boys walk ahead of him. “It was okay. My brother and his girlfriend got engaged on Christmas day, so that was pretty nice. Happy to see you again.”

Harry pushed down the bubble of joy in his chest. How could he have been nervous about seeing Louis again? “Engaged?” he asked. “But he only left Hogwarts last year! Isn’t that a bit, I dunno, hasty?”

“Maybe,” Louis pulled a face. “Would be for me but Quentin and Philippa have been together, like, since second year. They seem pretty into it.” He pursed his lips, “Mother and father were pleased.”

“Blimey.”

Just then they stepped through the doorway to Niall’s bedroom. Louis’ mouth dropped open and Harry understood why. He’d had the same reaction when he’d first stepped foot inside the room almost four years ago. It was a shrine to the musical wizarding band, Spellbound. Moving posters covered the walls and a handful of acoustic and magical guitars were piled against the wall.

Louis whistled, “Sweet digs, Ni.”

As Niall grinned smugly, Zayn scoffed, “Please. Every time I come here I have to wake up to Whatsit Thingy’s face staring down at me. It’s very disconcerting.”

Niall shrugged it off. “Don’t lie, Zayn. You love it. Party starts at nine. ‘Till then,” he smirked, holding up a battered old broomstick. “Anyone up for a game of Quidditch?”

Harry, Louis and Liam all cheered as Zayn scowled at the group of them.

~

He wasn’t sure how it had happened but it was several hours later, with the part in full swing, when Harry found himself alone, completely, utterly and terrifyingly alone, with Louis. They were both leaning against the patio fence at the back of the house, real-life fairies illuminating the garden from above.

Harry bit his lip, sneaking a look at Louis out of the corner of his eye. The other boy was staring up at the fairies, delicate smile lighting up his features.

“Pretty.”

Louis turned to him, eyebrows raised, “Sorry?”

“Pretty,” Harry repeated. “The lights.”

Harry watched as Louis’ smiled and stared down at his hands. “Yeah,” he said, his voice cracking. “Very pretty.” He turned to Harry, looking unsure, “Harry, about before, I’m sorry.”

The noise from the party inside spilled out into the garden, filling the silence between the two of them. Harry spoke softly, “I don’t want to sound like an arse, but you might need to be a little more specific.”

Louis let out a surprised laugh, before eyeing Harry nervously again. “About that night. By the fountain.” Harry held his breath as Louis continued to talk. “I wanted to kiss you back so much. I’m just – My father would be so angry. I didn’t want to say anything,” he looked up at Harry, fringe swooping across his forehead. “I thought if we were friends, best friends, that it would be enough.”

“We are best friends,” Harry whispered, hardly daring to move.

“But it  _ isn’t _  enough. Not for me. I – I know –” Louis huffed, eyes searching the sky before landing on Harry. “I know I’ve probably missed the boat, but could you give me another chance?”

Louis looked so worried that Harry almost laughed out loud. He stepped forward and pulled Louis closer, their lips meeting against the backdrop of twinkling lights. This time, it was perfect. Louis didn’t freeze, just melted into Harry’s arms. His lips parted against Harry’s, hot breath tickling his cheeks.

Harry’s eyes fluttered shut when Louis’ hands came up to tangle in his hair, fingers tracing delicate patterns on his neck. He tightened his grip at Louis sides, running his hand up the other boys’ back as he pressed them closer together. His chest was flat against Louis’ and he could feel Louis’ heart beating next to his.

When they broke apart, they were both breathing heavily. “Boat was never gonna leave without you,” Harry whispered, pressing their foreheads together.

Louis smiled, biting his lip. He leant his head down against Harry’s chest and pulled him into a tight embrace. Harry pressed his lips into Louis’ hair, working hard on remaining calm. Half an hour ago he thought he’d blown any chance he’d had with Louis and now, here he was, holding the other boy in his arms. It was all he could do not burst with excitement.

He felt Louis squeeze his arm. “C’mon,” he said quietly. “The others will be wondering where we are.”

“Let them,” Harry said, he voice rumbling in his chest. “I want you to myself, just a little longer.” He muttered, closing his eyes and kissing Louis’ temple.

“Alright,” Louis said, his voice hoarse. “Just a little longer.”

In the end they stayed out on the patio for almost another hour. It was only when Liam, Niall and Zayn ventured outside to find them, that they were interrupted.

“Well, well, well. What do we have here, then?” Niall smirked as the other two boys grinned behind him.

Harry fought down a smug smile when Louis blushed at his words.

Not waiting for an answer, Niall nodded his head towards the open field beyond them. “You coming? We’re going to do a little midnight stargazing.” He hoisted up the deck chairs he was carrying. “We come bearing seats and dad gave us some of his beer as well!”

Harry laughed at Niall’s excited expression. Taking Louis’ hand in his, he followed as the others started to walk. “Yeah, sounds cool.” He let the smile show on his face when Zayn walked by, winking at him.

After Niall had conjured up a portable fire, against Liam’s wishes (“Niall, we’re underage. You could get in serious trouble!” “I won’t if you don’t report me. If you wanna sit out here and freeze your bollocks off, be my guest.”), they stayed in companionable silence for a while, listening to the sounds of the party in the background and gazing up at the starry heavens above them. Harry only really had eyes for Louis, though. Louis was more beautiful than anything he’d see in the sky, he thought, dimly.

Eventually conversation turned to the future, as it seemed to do quite a lot in their O.W.L. year. While Zayn outlined his grand strategy for becoming the world’s next greatest Wandmaker Harry reached over and entwined his fingers with Louis’, letting their hands hang in the gap between their chairs.

“I want to go somewhere, you know? To make something of myself,” said Louis, when Zayn asked what his plans were. “I want to show everyone that they were wrong about me. Being a Slytherin is not who I am. I’m damn proud of my house but it’s not all that I am.” He sat up in his chair, frowning lightly at the damp ground. “Considerate for a Slytherin. Funny for a Slytherin.  _ Polite for a Slytherin _ ,” he huffed. “I get annoyed at myself for resenting where I was sorted.” He looked over to the rest of them and Harry thought that perhaps this was the first time Louis had ever said these things out loud. “So what if people don’t like Slytherin? That’s their problem, not mine. My house is better than its reputation. People just assume, it undermines all the work done by Slytherins in the past.” Louis shook his head, staring out across the dark countryside around them. “History books make fools of us,” he finished, voice soft. “I’m not a fool, I’m a good person. You’ll see who’s laughing when I’m done.

They were silent for a while before Liam said, expression serious, “It’s changing, you know.”

Louis fiddled with the label on his beer and nodded. “I know. I don’t what it to be changing though, I want it to have changed.”

Harry pressed down on Louis’ foot with his own, summoning a small smile from the other boy.

Zayn stood up, walking by Louis and ruffling his hair. He squinted towards the house and spoke softly into the silence, “I think it’s almost midnight.”

They all turned to the party and could hear a quiet countdown travel through the night air. “Four … three … two … one!”

Harry beamed when Louis lent over to him, pressing a small kiss into the corner of his mouth, before settling back down in his chair. Liam and Zayn groaned at them, while Niall wolf-whistled.

“Niall Horan, have you been doing magic?!”

They all jumped in their seats, immediately going to hide their drinks as Niall’s mother marched over to them.

Niall grimaced, eyeing the roaring fire in the middle of the improvised camp they’d set up. “Er, maybe? Don’t tell the Ministry, mam! I’m too pretty for Azkaban!” he pleaded, only half joking.

Maeve sighed, “We’ll see. You better buck up your ideas, young man, if you want to be a Healer one day. They don’t just let any old riff raff in, you know.” Her tone was teasing but, after she cautioned them to stay warm and wondered back to the main house, Niall watched her go with a solemn expression.

“I didn’t know you wanted to be a Healer, Niall,” Louis said, bringing his bottle of beer to his lips.

“He doesn’t. He just doesn’t have the balls to tell that to his mother,” Harry chuckled, taking a swig from his bottle as well.

Louis raised his eyebrows. “And here I was thinking all Gryffindors were supposed to be brave,” he teased.

Niall grumbled, “Yeah well, maybe Slytherin isn’t the only house subject to unreasonable expectations.”

Louis grinned. “Touché,” he said, leaning back, eyes to the stars.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bonus points to anyone who spotted the ‘(500) Days of Summer’ reference. Love that film.


	3. Chapter 3

_Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,_

_If you’ve a ready mind,_

_Where those of wit and learning,_

_Will always find their kind._

Harry blinked at the blackboard. Professor Diab was pointing his wand at the board, deep voice filling the small classroom as he explained the delicate precision required for an effective non-verbal spell. Cringing, Harry turned to Ed for help.

“Do you understand anything he’s saying?” Harry said under his breath.

Ed replied easily, “Not a word. I’m just writing it all down and I’m gonna get someone to explain it to me later.”

Harry turned back to the front and squinted at the board again. Eventually he gave up and swivelled in his chair to mouth at Zayn behind him, “Help me.”

Zayn just glowered and shook his head. Harry didn’t know whether that meant he didn’t understand either or that he just wasn’t going to explain it. Either way, the other boy’s attention was back on the professor, so Harry slumped back in his seat.

Shit, he thought. He had never really considered it before, but it was beginning to look like there was a chance he might actually fail his O.W.L.s, if he carried on at this rate. When did magic get so hard? He was supposed to be good at Defence Against the Dark Arts, as well.

By the time it came for them to actually practice some non-verbal spells, Harry had resigned himself to staring, gob-smacked at Zayn who was performing successful non-verbal disarming spells left, right and centre. He felt a little comforted when he watched Niall try and fail to disarm Ravenclaw prefect Rollo Fowler, holding his breath to stop himself from saying the spell out loud.

When the lesson ended Harry heaved a huge sigh of relief, shouldering his bag and half running out of the classroom to lunch.

“Well, that’s it,” Niall said, simply, as he sat down at the Gryffindor table and spooned pasta onto his plate. “I’m doomed. They were lulling us into a false sense of security before Christmas, I see it now. From here on in it’s gonna be all ‘perform this ridiculously advanced spell without any practice’, ‘concoct this twenty-seven stage potion in two hours’ or ‘successfully transform the entire of Hogwarts into a life-size bouncy castle’.”

“You’re exaggerating again, Niall. You know the Zayn hates it when we do that,” Harry said, flicking his most charming smile towards Zayn.

“Not by much,” he grumbled, before shovelling a forkful of food into his mouth.

Zayn stood up. He looked unusually uncomfortable, “I have to go now.”

Harry raised his eyebrows, “Okay. Thank you for the announcement. Anywhere nice?”

For some reason, Zayn began to blush. “No, just – I’ve just – It’s someone. Professor Albion. About – About the Charms, er, thing.” Harry and Niall both stared at him. “Right. I’ll see you both later, then.” And with a final flick of his robes, Zayn hurried out of the hall.

As he left, he passed Liam and Louis, who both looked confusedly at his hassled demeanour. When the two of them settled down next to Harry and Niall, Louis asked, “What’s got Zayn stressed out?”

Harry shrugged, “Not a clue.” He flung his arm over Louis’ shoulder, kissing his cheek. “How are my favourite Slytherpuffs?”

Liam snorted.

“Well, I was doing fantastic until you said that.”

“You love it,” Harry murmured, pulling him closer still.

“I do,” Louis replied leaning forward, gaze flickering between Harry’s eyes.

“Mr Styles, Mr Tomlinson, please. Do not make me recite school policy at you!” Professor Longbottom shouted across the Great Hall and the two of them broke apart in shock. “Thirty centimetres apart.”

“Sir, I think that policy  _explicitly_  refers to male and female students,” Louis shouted back. He was ignoring the stares they were receiving from other students and grinning back at the professor. “So, you know, Harry and I are good to go.”

Professor Longbottom shook his head, looking fondly exasperated. Louis seemed to have that effect on a lot of people, Harry had noticed. “Just because I like you, Louis, does not preclude the fact that I will give you detention,” the professor warned, heading towards the opposite door. He turned his back to them before shouting, “But thank you for pointing it out! I’ll get on amending that straight away. Wouldn’t what school rules discriminating between students, would we?”

Louis slumped against the table and sighed, “Legend.”

He turned his head to nuzzle against Harry’s shoulder just as Professor Longbottom’s voice travelled from the other side of the door, “Thirty centimetres!”

Niall’s cackles echoed around the hall behind them as they wondered off to find a more deserted corridor.

~

“Zayn.”

Zayn didn’t reply to Harry but just paused momentarily in his writing. After a second he continued to scrawl across the parchment with his quill.

“Zayn,” Harry’s pleading voice interrupted the silence of the library once more. “ _Zayn_. Have a heart, Zayn.”

“No,” Zayn replied, emphatically.

“It’s like you want me to end up destitute, in a gutter somewhere.”

“Honestly, you and Niall,” he said, fighting down a smile. “It’s like you were born for hyperbole. I’m not doing your essay for you, Harry. You’re a smart guy, Professor Albion will be happy with whatever you submit.”

Harry remained silent for a few moments, staring around at the library. Students were settled at desks between the shelves every couple of rows. Apart from the ruffle of paper and the occasional cough, the vast room was unsettlingly quiet. He bit his lip before leaning over to Zayn again. “I’ll get you whatever you want for your birthday –”

“ _Harry_!” Zayn hissed.

“Fine, fine,” Harry reassured, hands held up in defeat. “I’m going, look! I’m gone.” He left the room and headed towards the Muggle Studies corridor, where he knew Louis and Niall would be finished with their lesson soon.

The next few weeks rolled out in a very similar fashion. Between his many and frequent panic sessions over how he was never going to complete the insurmountable amount of work he had, and the times he and Louis would sneak off into a secluded part of the castle, Harry could hardly believe it when his own birthday arrived at the beginning of February.

“Happy Birthday!” Louis grinned, sitting cross legged across from him in the Gryffindor common room. It was midweek and around them students were shouting, laughing and joking the evening away. Harry beamed. “I got you a present,” said Louis, biting his tongue through his smile. He reached down behind the sofa to pull up a silver bag. “Niall helped. Mainly with the thieving part, but,” Louis shrugged.

Harry frowned over to where Niall was sat by Liam and Zayn next to the fire. “Thank you, Louis.” He pocketed his harmonica, which he’d been playing with and reached into the bag. He pulled out, “my laptop?” Frowning again, he said, “Um. Thanks?”

Louis rolled his eyes. “It’s not just your laptop, I’m not a moron.”

“One does question,” Zayn drawled from across the way. “Why you even bother bringing all your electricals to Hogwarts. It’s actually quite sad.”

Harry stuck his tongue out at the Ravenclaw before he turned back to an excited Louis. “I fixed it!” he almost squealed.

“Fixed it?” Harry looked down at his laptop, turning it on curiously.

“Yeah. It should work properly, now. You won’t get the internet or anything, but it’ll – What was it, Niall?”

Niall pointed at the computer in Harry’s hands, “It’ll play movies and all that other Muggle crap. Plus Louis did something crazy to the, battery, is it? So it won’t die.”

Harry stared as the screen lit up in front of him.

“Do you like it?” he heard Louis ask.

“Oh my God, Louis. This is  _brilliant_. I can listen to my music and everything!” He quickly placed the computer down on the floor next to him and pulled Louis against him. He grinned into the other boy’s hair before pulling back and kissing him soundly.

“When did you have time to do this?” Harry asked in disbelief.

Louis stared at him for a moment, apparently dumbstruck. “Well, I actually, sort of used it as my Muggle Studies project. Got an ‘Outstanding’ as well, so,” he shrugged, giving a double thumbs up. “Yeay.”

“Right, you’re coming with me. Sorry, boys,” he said, sending Liam, Niall and Zayn a sympathetic smile. “You’re not invited.” He tucked his laptop under his arm and pulled Louis off the sofa. The other boy had an excited smile on his face. “We are going to celebrate this marvellous development with a nice cheesy film and lots and lots of pillows. C’mon.”

Louis didn’t need telling twice. He followed Harry up to the fifth year dormitory, ignoring the yell from the Head Boy informing them that Louis wasn’t allowed up there.

 

Two hours later, though, and Harry was feeling less confident about his choice. They were cuddled up in his four poster, Louis leaning against his chest with the curtains drawn. Harry was only half paying attention to the film, choosing instead to watch Louis’ reaction. He’d picked out ‘Titanic’ to watch, mainly because he wanted an excuse to hold Louis as close to him as possible. He was beginning to remember, however, as characters started to panic on the quickly sinking ship that it wasn’t the most cheerful film he could’ve chosen.

“Shit, Harry. I am not cool with this situation that’s happening right now,” Louis muttered, as he watched the steerage passengers yell at the crewman keeping them below deck. “Why don’t they Disapparate? Or use a bubble-head charm? They can’t all be Muggles!”

“It’s a Muggle film, isn’t it?” Harry said, lips moving against Louis’ hair. “So they don’t know anything about that. ’Sides, when it really happened, I don’t suppose any Wizards were on the ship, why would they need to be?”

Louis froze against him. “Really happened?” he said, voice thick. “You’re saying this is real?”

“Well, not this exactly, I mean – But it’s based on real events, yeah. Titanic was a real ship that sank in, what, nineteen twelve? I think over a thousand people died. It’s, like, an historic thing.” Harry bit his lip when Louis turned to him, horrified. “We can stop watching, or we can watch something else, it doesn’t matter –”

“No!” Louis grabbed his hand, stopping him from reaching towards the laptop. “I need to see what happens to Jack and Rose.”

“They weren’t real, Louis. They’re just charac –”

“Yeah, I get that. I wanna see, though.”

They settled down again and Harry gritted his teeth as, by the time the film neared its end and the music swelled, he could feel Louis’ shoulders shake against his chest and see the tears running down his cheeks.

~

“’Titanic’? The first film you show him, the first film he’s  _ever seen_ , in his  _whole life_  and you pick ‘Titanic’?” Zayn ran a hand across his face, unable to hide his smirk. “What possessed you?”

“I thought it would be romantic,” Harry replied, wretchedly.

They were gathered together in an empty classroom, sheltering from the showering rain falling outside.

“ _Roma_  – Harry, shit. Easy him in gently!” Zayn scoffed while Liam laughed at his shoulder. “He’s gonna be permanently scarred now.”

“Oh, don’t,” Harry groaned.

“I’m joking. It’s actually quite funny.” Zayn paused, “Or it will be, when he stops crying.”

Harry glared at him, “It’s  _not_  funny, Zayn.”

At that point the door creaked open and they all jerked their heads around, only to relax when they saw Louis himself walk into the room. “I’ve decided something,” Louis said to them, solemnly, skipping any kind of greeting.

He wasn’t crying, so at least there was that. “Yeah?” Harry asked, anxiously. “What’s that?”

Louis turned towards him and walked over. “Muggles, Harry, are too much of a liability to themselves. They’re like little children, you know? Just thoughtlessly playing with knives; they have absolutely no idea how dangerous  _everything_  is to them.”

“Damn straight,” Niall agreed from his corner. “Apparently, they’ve sent some into space.  _Space._  How are you supposed to survive that, without magic, eh? Madness.”

“You know, they’re doing alright,” Liam commented. “I mean, they’ve got science and stuff, to help them through. They’re not stupid. ” Louis and Niall stared at Liam blankly for a moment until the other boy sighed, “Whatever. So, what’ve you decided?”

Louis grinned, stretching his arms out, “ _Muggle Protection_. It’s my calling.” He looked around the group, eagerly. “We have careers advice the end of this year, right? So, Muggle Protection. That’s what I’m going to do.”

“That’s a really great idea, Louis,” Zayn said, completely sincere. Louis looked surprised. “I’m sure you’d be brilliant. At whatever you want to do.”

As Zayn shoved himself away from the desk he was leaning against, towards the classroom door, Niall whined, “Where you going off to now?”

“Library,” Zayn shouted over his shoulder as he left.

“’Course he bloody is,” Niall muttered under his breath.

Louis was grinning at the floor as Niall spoke and Harry narrowed his eyes.

“What is it?” Harry asked. Louis jolted his head up to the group, giving it a small shake but Harry didn’t let it drop. “ _What_?” he pressed.

“No, I can’t say now,” Louis said, his hand rubbing at his jaw. “Not when he was so nice to me, it wouldn’t be fair.”

“Oh my God,” Liam leaned forward, eyes twinkling dangerously. “You’ve got dirt on Zayn, don’t you?”

“I couldn’t possibly comment.”

“Spill!” Harry said, eyes wide. “Louis, spill!”

“C’mon, mate. It’s only fair,” Niall whined. “In second year he told all the Gryffindor girls that I had a drawing of a Kelpie tattooed on my arse, he doesn’t deserve your loyalty.”

Louis pursed his lips, but nodded a second later, eyes bright. They all gathered around him, impatient to hear the news. “So, I may have seen our young Mr Malik yesterday. In the Owlery.” His eyes widened as he leaned in and said, “With a girl.”

All the boys gasped. “That sly old dog,” Niall huffed.

Liam looked almost upset, “He never said anything to me about any girl.”

Harry was looking over at Louis still, who had a slightly sinister grin on his face. “Not just  _any_ girl,” Louis said. “Perrie Edwards.”

“Oh, at last,” Harry breathed out. “They were getting painful to watch.”

Liam pouted, “But why was he keeping it a secret?”

“Don’t worry, man,” Niall reassured. “We’ll give him so much shit for this, he’ll never lie to us again. It’s good though, Perrie’s cool.”

It was true. By the end of the week Zayn was so fed up with their teasing that he offered to do all their Divination homework for them, if they’d just _shut up_. Perrie handled the whole affair with a little more dignity, simply offering a satisfied smirk whenever any brought it up. Harry made a mental note to bear that tactic in mind whenever he next felt like he wanted the ground to swallow him up. It probably wouldn’t work but he figured it was the thought that counted.

~

Louis was grinning at him from over his huge mug of hot chocolate. They were in Madam Puddifoot’s Tea Shop for Valentine’s Day and Harry was already feeling too hot, packed in with dozens of other students. There was a light, misty rain falling outside and the small shop had condensation running down its bay windows.

Louis started sniggering into his palm and Harry turned to look over his shoulder, where Louis had just been staring. His eyes widened as they landed on a couple, cuddled up in one of the booths. Their tongues were writhing against each other’s in a grotesque display, slurping noises travelling across the tea shop floor. Harry turned back to Louis, eyebrows high on his forehead, lips stretched out in a smirk.

“So, this is nice,” Louis said lightly, fiddling with the frilly doily in the middle of the small, circular table.

Harry bit his lip, but it only worked for a moment before the laughter he was holding down bubbled over the surface. Louis’ eyes twinkled as he began to laugh as well.

“I’m sorry, Louis,” Harry gasped. He leaning over the table and took hold of Louis’ hand. “Shall we go? We’ll find somewhere less busy.”

“But the rain,” Louis replied, glancing dubiously at the grey sky outside.

A particularly loud slurp came from over Harry’s shoulder. Harry levelled Louis with an unimpressed expression. “So you’d rather stay here?”

Louis grinned wide, showing off his teeth. “Maybe not, c’mon.”

They both stood up, quickly, gathering their coats and chucking down a couple of sickles on to the table. Once they were outside, Harry reached down to hold Louis’ hand. As he did so, he noticed that the battered, old watch the Slytherin usually wore was missing. “Where’s your watch?” he asked.

Louis looked down at his own wrist. “Oh, it broke, I dunno. It stopped working, I couldn’t get it to start again,” he shrugged. Although they hadn’t been out in the rain for long, his hair had a light dusting of rain drops, clinging on for dear life.

“That sucks. Was a nice one and all.”

“Yeah. My granddad gave it to me. ‘Spose it was pretty old.”

“Did you want to head to Gladrags? We could find you a new one. You could pass it on to your grandkids.”

Louis sent him a funny look. “No, it’s alright. I’m not – I’m trying to save up.”

“Well, that doesn’t matter,” Harry said, boots splashing in the shallow puddles along the path. “I’m sure they have some cheaper ones.”

“No, Harry,” Louis said, clearly annoyed. “Can we – Can you leave it, please?”

Harry blinked. “Right, sure. Sorry.”

After a few moments he heard Louis sigh loudly. The other boy squeezed Harry’s hand tightly in his own and Harry watched carefully as Louis spoke to the ground. “We’re not rich,” he started, slowly. “Everyone thinks we are because, you know, we live in this gigantic, ridiculous house. But that’s all it is. A house. Covered in jewels and furs and tapestries.” He looked up to Harry as they walked, blush rising in his cheeks.

Harry felt his stomach clench. “Christ. I didn’t mean to – Sorry. I always put my foot in it.” He watched as Louis bit his lip. “Please don’t be embarrassed, Louis. I’m the one that should be embarrassed.”

Louis shook his head, smiling a little. “When I was little, sometimes we didn’t have enough food because we were so poor. But they wouldn’t even – Mother refused to sell anything.  _It’s our heritage_ , she’d say, as if that was the be all and end all.” He let out a shallow laugh, “What’s the point of heritage if you’ve got nothing to contribute? I get scared, sometimes, that I’ll just be the blank space at the end of the family tree. On my gravestone it’ll say ‘here lies Louis, the last and the least of the great Tomlinson name’ or something.” Louis kicked a stone that was in his way. “They belong in the last century, my parents do,” he mumbled.

They’d come to a halt near Hogsmeade Station, having walked away from the crowds in the village.

“Louis,” Harry started, but he couldn’t think of anything to say. Instead, he pulled Louis closer to him, taking shelter under the stone archway. He mumbled into Louis’ hair, “Well, you belong with me. That’s all I care about.”

Louis turned his face to rest his cheek on Harry’s shoulder. Harry felt it when he nodded his head. “That’s where we first met, over there,” Louis said, staring over to the Station gates in the distance. “What was it that held you up? An owl, or something?”

“A tiny owl,” Harry clarified.

“Right,” Louis chuckled. “A  _tiny owl._  I stand corrected.” He stayed quiet for a moment, listening as the rain fell heavier around them. “I’m glad it did. I’m glad I met you.”

Harry was sure his heart was about to jump out of his chest, the rate it was beating. His voice cracked when he said, “I’m glad I met you, too.” He lent down, bringing his lips to Louis’. They kissed lazily and unhurried against the cold stone. Louis tasted like chocolate and apples and rain.

~

Over the past handful of months Harry, Liam, Niall and Zayn had all grown accustomed to being friends with a Slytherin. They’d stopped grumbling when they shared classes with the Slytherins, they’d stopped blaming the Slytherins for all the little things that went wrong in their day, they’d even stopped daydreaming about locking the Slytherin Head Boy in Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom. One thing they hadn’t done, however, was visit the Slytherin common room.

The Slytherin Dungeon was located in the bowels of the castle and it was with trepidation that the four of them followed Louis down there one Friday evening. Harry had just come back from Quidditch training and was feeling rather conspicuous in his bright red and gold uniform. They stopped next to a stretch of bare stone wall.

Louis turned to them and laughed, “Don’t look so nervous, it’s not the gallows.” He leant in and whispered, “Scrimgeour,” and the wall parted in front of them.

Green. That’s all Harry could really think. Green and somehow wet. They entered the vast stone room, with tall columns lining the entrance and lamps flickering in the corners. A monumental chandelier hung high from the ceiling. The eerie green glow emanated from the lamps, the tall windows on either side of the empiric fireplace seemingly letting in a minuscule amount of natural light. There were ten or so students sitting in the high-backed armchairs dotted around the room. They’d clearly been chatting with each other but had come to a sudden stop when the strangers had entered. Harry felt himself flush under their scrutiny.

After a few moments Louis coughed, “Is there a problem?” His voice was steady but Harry could tell he was nervous from the way he tapped his foot against the rug. The students shrugged, conversation starting up once more and the group settled into a deserted corner near the bottom of the one of the windows.

As they sat down an ethereal sort of whooshing sound came from beyond the window. The four non-Slytherins all stilled, eyeing the glass wearily. No one else seemed to take any notice. Niall jumped, “Buggering billywigs, what was that?”

Harry squinted towards the window. The darkness beyond had a certain twinkling quality to it, almost like it was moving.

Just then Zayn gasped, “Shit, are we underwater?”

They all jerked their heads towards Louis, who merely smirked, “It’s the Great Lake.” He nodded towards the glass, “Keep an eye out, you might see the Giant Squid. He comes over every now and again, it’s pretty cool.”

“Pretty cool?” Harry repeated, rushing to press his face against the cold window pane. “It’s fucking awesome.” This close up he could see the dim rays of light that shone down from the water’s surface. A school of fish swam past him, at eye level, shimmering grey. He heard Liam let out a low whistle, clearly impressed.

“So, what do you think?” Louis asked the group. “Greg was gonna be here, as well, as, like, another friendly face but Binns gave him detention. I know it’s not as, well,  _cosy_  as your common rooms –”

“Nah, it’s cool,” said Zayn, leaning back in his chair.

Harry cast his eyes around the room. The chairs were soft, the fire was warm and friendly figures smiled down at them from the portraits lining the walls. He spotted a group of first or second years giggling in the opposite corner as they played wizards chess. “Yeah,” he said, catching Louis’ eye. “It’s nice.”

Louis grinned as Liam and Niall nodded as well. The Hufflepuff hummed, “Right. It’s sort of like a ship, you know. Like an old fashioned pirate ship. It’s cool.”

Harry tried not to smile too hard as he watched Louis preen. They stayed in that corner for the evening, chatting and watching the Slytherin students come and go. Liam spent most of the time doing his homework, muttering to himself and scribbling out his work more ferociously every time he did it. They went largely unnoticed and Harry was a little ashamed to admit he was glad of it. He knew this was a big thing for Louis, bringing them down here, and he wanted it to go well.

It was getting dark outside when the common room door slid open once more. Harry looked up from their game of Gobstones and inwardly groaned as he spotted fifth years Wren and Arterbury swagger into the dungeon.

Niall sighed opposite him, “And I was having such a nice time as well.”

Louis cheered, oblivious, knocking the final Gobstone out of the circle and winning the game. When nobody congratulated him he pouted before following their gaze. “Oh,” he said, shoulders sinking. “Just ignore them, they’ll usually leave you alone if you don’t make eye contact. Like bears.”

Niall let out a soft laugh. They all kept looking at the two towering boys though, as they wondered over to where two first years were sat cross legged on the sofa, swapping chocolate frog cards. Just as Harry recognised the first years as Scorpius Malfoy and Albus Potter, Arterbury snatched the cards out of Potter’s hands.

“Hey, it’s Potty and his little pet spider,” Arterbury smirked, gormlessly.

Scorpius stood up, hand outstretched with a defiant expression on his face. “Give them back,” he said. Harry was impressed by how unafraid he sounded, both Wren and Arterbury were about twice the size of him.

“You know, I don’t think I will.”

Most of the people in the common room were openly staring at the scene now. Harry glanced to where Louis was focused on Albus, biting his lip. Before he knew it, Louis was walking across the room.

“Milton,” Louis’ voice carried across the now quiet room. “Don’t be pathetic. Give Albus his cards back.”

Arterbury swivelled on the spot, his cruel grin landing on Louis’. “Ah, if it isn’t everybody’s least favourite Tomlinson. And you’ve brought your friends, as well,” he said, spotting the group in the corner. “What have you got planned for tonight? Going to plait each other’s hair and make daisy chains?”

“That’s right, how did you know?” Louis replied, icily. “Now give the cards back.”

“You gonna make me?” Wren laughed from several paces away and it seemed to spur Arterbury on. “Come on then. Get yourself battered over some little baby’s chocolate cards.”

Harry thought it was a bit rich of Wren to be laughing so hard, considering Louis had given him a black eye worth remembering last term. Louis didn’t seem too bothered by Arterbury’s mocking, though. “ _No_ ,” he admitted. “But I’m sure if word were to get around to your father, he wouldn’t be too pleased that you’re getting into even more trouble.” Louis looked ridiculously small stood next to Arterbury. “You’re a whisper away from suspension, if what I’ve heard is right.” He cocked his head, pretending to think. “I wonder what Professor Turnstone would think about you threatening first years. Maybe I should ask her.”

Arterbury glared at Louis for so long Harry was just about to get up and shove himself between to two of them when the burly Slytherin scoffed. He thrust the cards back to Albus, who stumbled backwards from the force.

“C’mon, Marcus,” Arterbury growled, eyes travelling to the corner in which Harry and the others were sitting. “They’re all Mudblood-lovers in here anyway.”

Zayn’s scowl was almost audible as the two brutes left the room once more and Louis sat back down next to them. They all stayed silent for a second before Niall laughed, “Shit, mate. That was cool. I thought you were gonna get your head kicked in for sure.”

“Nah,” Louis said, though Harry could hear the waver in his voice. “Just cowards, aren’t they? Caught them having a go at McCredie the other day, as well. They pick on the people they think won’t fight back. Don’t have a brain cell between them.”

There was a small cough behind Harry’s shoulder and he turned to see Albus Potter staring, wide eyed at Louis.

“Hey, Albus,” Louis said, smiling kindly. “You alright?”

“Yeah,” the boy nodded. He still had his chocolate frog cards clutched tightly in his hands. “I just wanted to say, um, thank you for, you know.” He ducked his head. “You’re always helping me out.”

Louis let out a short, breathy laugh. “You’re welcome, you don’t have to thank me. I’m prefect, yeah? It’s my job.” He crouched down a little so he was face to face with the younger boy. “If you get any more trouble, you can come straight to me, or Bethan. Okay?”

Albus nodded again before sparing a startled glance at the rest of them and running back to Scorpius.

Harry was about to send a teasing comment to Louis when Liam let out a moan. “Zayn,” he said, and they all to turned to the corner where he was sat. Harry had almost forgotten Liam was there, the Hufflepuff had managed to keep focused on his homework throughout the commotion. “I can’t do it. It’s too hard, I just –” He dropped his head into his hands. “I just don’t know the answers. I’ll never understand it.”

“’Course you will, mate,” said Zayn, tone comforting, his earlier anger immediately forgotten. “You’ve just got a mental block on it.”

“It’s not a mental block.” Harry frowned a little at Liam’s expression. He looked about as stressed as Harry had ever seen him. “It’s me. I’m stupid,” he whined, pitifully. “I’m too stupid for this stuff. I should just leave now. I’m still young, I still have time to pick up some Muggle job or something.”

Zayn sounded almost annoyed again when he spoke next, grabbing Liam’s arm, “Don’t be ridiculous. Of course you’re not stupid. What are you working on?”

“There’s no point, Zayn. It won’t make any difference, I made it here by the skin of my teeth. Nobody’ll be surprised if I leave.”

Louis sent a pointed look in Harry’s direction and he gave a small shake of his head, trying to show that he’d explain later.

“You are not leaving,” Zayn said firmly. “I’ll help you, okay? We’ll do it together. Show me what you’ve got so far.”

Liam blinked miserably before handing Zayn his parchment. As Harry watched, Zayn began to read through Liam’s work. The Ravenclaw boy pulled Liam against him while he read and gave his arm a reassuring squeeze. Harry left them to it. He curled his body around Louis and entertained himself by drawing shimmering lines onto Niall’s arm with his wand.

A colossal shadow travelled across the window, dropping the entire room into temporary darkness and Harry shivered, tucking himself further into Louis’ side.

~

He stared tentatively at the entrance of the Hufflepuff Basement, feeling suspicious. Harry was fairly sure he knew the secret knock that would gain him access but he’d seen what happened to people when they got it wrong (they were generally sprayed with a liquid so fowl smelling, Harry didn’t care to know what it was called) and he usually had Liam with him. He took a deep breath, squeezed his eyes shut and knocked on the barrel that disguised the common room entrance. Instead of the dowsing of gunge he was anticipating, the door swung open and he relaxed. A young girl answered, blonde pigtails framing her round face.

“Hey,” Harry said, with a gentle wave. “I’m looking for Liam Payne. Is he in there?”

The girl giggled for no reason that Harry could find before shaking her head, “No. He went off with that laughing Gryffindor.”

He assumed he was referring to Niall. “Oh, okay. What about Perrie? Edwards? Or Jade?”

She shook her head again. “It’s Thursday, they’re at Divination Club.”

Harry groaned and rapped his knuckles against the wood of the barrel for before saying, “Thanks,” and stalking away. In time he wound up at the library, sliding up next to Louis and Zayn on the corner bench they’d claimed for themselves. As depressing as the library was, it wasn’t as sad as spending the evening by himself.

“Blimey, Styles,” Zayn greeted him. “You get lost?”

“Just because I don’t like this place, doesn’t mean I don’t know where it is,” he whispered, keeping an eye out for the weathered, ancient librarian, Madam Pince. “It’s too dark to think properly in here.”

Louis didn’t say anything but smiled up at Harry from his work and lightly ran the feather of his quill along Harry’s jaw. Harry hummed in response and pulled out some parchment and his own quill. He thought for a moment, as Louis and Zayn returned to their work. Heading down the corridor of bookshelves, he began a search for ‘Vanishing the Myth’ by E. V. Scere. If he had to be here, he reasoned, he might as well get some homework down.

The next morning Harry and Zayn were slumped against the wall of the Charms corridor. It had only been the two of them at breakfast that morning, which wasn’t unheard of, but Harry found himself frowning at the thin line of students waiting for class to start. He nudged Zayn’s arm, nodding down the line.

“Where are all the other Ravenclaws?” he asked.

Zayn sent a bored glance across the corridor and shrugged, “I dunno. Where’s Niall? I haven’t seen him since Wednesday.”

“Beats me,” Harry said. He squashed himself against the wall to avoid an army of older Hufflepuff girls walking past. “He’s probably forgotten lessons are mandatory.”

The sound of footsteps slamming on the stone floor echoed around the hallway and Niall appeared from beyond the corner. His eyes searched frantically for Harry and Zayn and, by the time he’d spotted them, they were both staring at him in shock. Harry had never seen Niall look so worried.

“Thank Merlin I found you!” the Gryffindor gasped, rushing over to them. “I need your help.”

Zayn groaned, “Oh God, Niall. What have you gone and done?”

“I haven’t done anything!” Niall squawked, indignantly. “Just, Wolff’s after me.”

Harry snorted, running a hand through his hair. “Why’s he after you, then? If you didn’t do anything?”

Niall bit his lip and turned to look behind him, “Look, guys, I don’t have time to explain, he’ll be here in a second. Will you cover for me? Please?” He looked deploringly at the two of them. “Tell him I was with you last night?”

Zayn scrunched up his nose, “I thought you were with Liam?”

“No, he wouldn’t come with me. He went to Divination Club with the girls.” Niall started to rush down the corridor again. He shouted back to them, “Just, tell him, will you? And don’t say you’ve seen me!”

The hem of his cloak whipped out of sight and he was gone again.

Harry sighed. “It’s going to be one of those days, I can tell.” Zayn shoved him, hard and he stood a little straighter when he saw Professor Wolff striding towards them, stern expression on his face. He stopped short in front of them and Harry could feel the eyes of the other students in the line on him.

“Mr Styles,” the professor said. “Mr Malik, can you tell me what you were doing yesterday evening?” His voice had a gravely quality to it that, although he was head of Hufflepuff house, tended to stop students messing about with him.

“Yesterday?” Zayn asked, the picture of innocence. “Not much. What’s this about, Sir?”

“Who’d you do ‘not much’ with?” he asked, ignoring Zayn’s question.

Zayn pulled a face. “Well, Harry here was there,” he said, resting his hand on Harry’s arm. Harry nodded obligingly. He was a terrible liar. “And Niall too. Niall Horan, you know?”

Professor Wolff stared at the both of them. It was quite clear to Harry that he didn’t believe a word they had said, but Harry worked hard on maintaining a harmlessly curious facial expression. Finally the professor said, “I know him.” He stepped forward and both Harry and Zayn took an instinctive step backwards. “If I ever found out you have lied to me, boys, you will be in serious trouble.”

Harry stomach gave an uneasy lurch. They both nodded, wordlessly and the professor walked away looking harassed. Harry caught Jesy’s eye across the corridor and she bit her lip, pulling a mischievous face.

When Professor Albion finally arrived to start their Charms lesson he seemed distracted. Niall snuck into the classroom behind him without being noticed and Harry took the opportunity to question him. “We just lied for you Niall, you better tell us what you were up to.”

Niall looked sheepishly over to them, fiddling with his wand. “I may have been in the –” He cut himself off, shooting a look towards the front of the classroom to make sure Professor Albion wasn’t listening. “I was in the Forbidden Forest,” he admitted in a whisper.

“What!? Why?” Harry asked as Zayn groaned, leaning against the table. The Forbidden Forest was, well,  _forbidden_ , and as far as Harry could tell, for good reason.

Niall licked his lips, turning his entire body to face them, “I’ve been going there every couple of nights. There’s this Occamy nesting there. Can you believe that? A real life Occamy, in Britain!”

Harry was already lost. He was about to turn to share his confusion with Zayn, but the other boy was way ahead of him. “Well, yeah, that’s cool, but what’s gone wrong? Why is Wolff asking questions?”

“Hang about,” Harry interrupted. “What the hell is an Occamy?”

“It’s like a snake with wings, really,” said Niall, flapping his hands out beside him. “It doesn’t matter but it’s, like, really rare in this country, I’ve never heard –”

“Niall!” Zayn flicked Niall on the wrist. “What happened?”

“Right, sorry. So, I was in the forest last night and Wolff was there chatting to Hagrid. I would usually just keep under cover but Helen – that’s what I’ve called her – was kicking up a fuss.” He scratched his jaw, thoughtfully, “I don’t think she liked so many people being near her nest. I don’t know why she chose a spot so close to the edge of the forest, it’s really bizarre. I –”

“Seriously, man. Stick to the story,” Zayn deadpanned.

“Yeah, so, she was kicking up a fuss and Wolff noticed something. He came looking in the forest. I’m pretty sure he saw me, he was calling out and looking right at me. But, I mean, it was dark and stuff, so I just ignored him. He was proper angry, going on about formal warnings and writing to my parents and shit.” He pulled at his hair, “If he ever finds out it was me I’m going to be in it up to my neck.”

Harry leaned back in his chair. He took a deep breath, “To be honest, mate, I’m kinda relieved. Thought it would be worse than that. But what about, what was it, Helen?”

“Oh, she’s fine. I don’t think I can risk going back to the forest again, though. She’ll have to cope by herself. At least for a little while.”

“You’re such a moron,” Zayn said, smirking. “Why not just tell Hagrid? He’d probably help you.”

Niall shrugged. “Kinda just wanted it to myself, you know.”

“Boys,” Professor Albion called from the front. It appeared that he’d regained his focus. “Chat in your own time, please.”

Zayn gave Niall a fond, exasperated look before turning back in his seat. “Daft boy,” Harry heard him mutter under his breath.

The next lesson Harry and Niall had was Divination, so an hour later they waved goodbye to Zayn and headed up the steep staircase towards the North Tower where the Divination classroom was housed. Louis was waiting for them and chatting to Greg. When they arrived Harry planted himself next to the Slytherin while Niall was dragged away by Ed and Castor.

Louis smiled a goodbye to Greg, who strolled over to the other Slytherins. “I’ve got a new Niall story to tell you,” Harry said, resting his head on Louis’ shoulder.

“Oh, yeah?” Louis said, pleased. “I love Niall stories.”

Harry smiled, “I know you do –” He was cut off at that point when the ladder to the attic descended with a loud bang and students started to clamber up. “I’ll tell you later.”

Looking back, Harry often wondered whether, if he’d simply just told Louis the story about Niall then and there, the whole incident might’ve been avoided. Ultimately he knew it was his own fault, but that one little sentence,  _I’ll tell you later_ ; it was like a butterfly flapping its wings. Everything could’ve been different. But then nothing would have been the same, either.

It happened about ten minutes into the lesson. Harry was almost drifting off to sleep, drowsy from the burning incense they were working with. He jerked back to alertness, though, when the trap door was slammed open. Ed, who he was working with, dropped his incense stick in shock and swore loudly as it burnt his cloak.

It was Professor Debussy. She was uncharacteristically subdued as she approached Professor Bones at the front of the smoky room. The two spoke in hushed tones for a moment before she stepped forward and said, in a neutral voice, “Mr Tomlinson, could you come with me please?”

All the heads in the room turned to where Louis was sitting. He looked surprised and a little unsure but passed his incense stick to Niall and gathered his things. He caught Harry’s eye as he walked by with the professor, giving him a small smile. When the trap door was closed behind them once more and the class had resumed its activities Harry looked over to Niall, eyebrows raised in a question. Niall simply shrugged at him and returned to staring at the faint trail of smoke streaming from his burning incense stick.

When they were dismissed at the end of class and Louis had still not returned, Harry began to get a little anxious. “What do you think she wanted with him?” he asked Niall.

Niall shook his head. “Probably some prefect stuff, innit?”

“Yeah,” Harry replied slowly, not entirely convinced. “Maybe.”

His apprehension was doubled when, as the two of them approached the courtyard for morning break, they stopped short. Professor Longbottom was standing next to Liam, Perrie and Zayn with his arms folded. The usual good natured smile he wore was nowhere to be seen. Harry willed away the uneasy feeling building in his chest when he saw Liam point to them walking over.

“Hello Sir,” he said, arriving at the group.

Professor Longbottom licked his lips. “Harry,” he nodded. “I need to borrow you and Zayn for a moment, if that’s alright.”

Harry flicked his gaze to Zayn’s for a second before he answered, but the other boy’s face was stoic. “Okay. What’s it about?” He tried to ignore Niall fidgeting at his side.

“I just have a few questions that need clearing up. You’re not in trouble, don’t worry,” he said, leading them back inside the castle.

Worry, however, was precisely what Harry did. The walk to wherever the professor was taking them seemed to take an eternity. Neither Harry nor Zayn spoke to one another on the journey and Harry was sure they were about to get caught in their lie. So, when they were led to Professor Debussy’s office on one of the lowest levels of the castle, Harry was at a loss.

They entered the dark but neatly decorated office and he sucked in a breath. Professors Albion, Debussy and Wolff, the respective heads of Ravenclaw, Slytherin and Hufflepuff, were waiting for them. Harry almost tripped over his feet when he spotted the Headmistress, Professor Turnstone, waiting in the corner as well. Her long, black hair shimmered in the orange light cast from the small fire. Harry and Zayn walked further into the room, coming to a halt in front of the desk.

At that moment, it seemed just to add to Harry’s horrified confusion, he spotted Louis sitting by the desk, looking small and pale. A relieved expression travelled across the Slytherin’s face as he watched the two boys walk into the room. Harry sent him what he hoped was a reassuring smile before he turned to the professors.  _Shit_ , he thought, trying not to panic. This was serious.

Without offering any explanation, Professor Wolff walked over to Harry and Zayn. “I’ve already asked you this question, boys,” he said. “But I need to confirm the answer with you, okay?” They both nodded. Harry felt like the fire in the room was unnecessarily hot. “Where were you last night?”

Harry hesitated. He wasn’t sure what they wanted to hear or why Louis was there. Professor Wolff’s gaze was boring into him. He coughed, deciding the best thing to do would be to stick to the story. He wondered what kind of trouble Niall had got himself into. “We were both with Niall. Horan, that is,” he added to the Headmistress in the corner. She nodded her head in acknowledgement. “Um, up in the –” he turned to Zayn, “Astonomy Tower?” He tried his hardest not to make it sound like he was making it up on the spot, but he didn’t think it worked very well. “Then – Then we went to bed,” he finished, lamely.

Professor Wolff nodded. “And nobody else was with you? You didn’t make any other detours?”

Harry frowned. Sparing a glance to Louis he could see that the other boy was staring at them, aghast. Harry stumbled on his words, “No. It was just us.”

Nobody spoke for a moment and all Harry could hear was the rhythmic sound of Zayn tapping his foot against the stone floor, nervously.

“Harry, are you absolutely sure?” Professor Longbottom asked. His voice was almost desperate. Harry could tell he knew they were lying, but what could Harry do? He didn’t understand what was going on, all he could think of was to maintain the lie.

“I’m certain, Sir.”

Professor Longbottom stood back to his full height, looking disappointed. Harry shifted his feet. He just wanted to get out of this office as soon as he could. Louis was looking at him, defeated and upset, slumped against his small wooden chair.

The Headmistress spoke up then, her voice was deep and soft. “This is an unfortunate set of circumstances,” she sighed. “From the evidence put before us we must assume that one of you is lying.” Harry shot a look at Louis, but the other boy didn’t meet his eye, staring firmly at the floor. He wondered what on earth Louis would be lying about before he remembered that he was the one who was lying. Professor Turnstone continued, “As we have an independent witness who claims to have seen you at the site of the incident, Louis, I’m afraid that, at the present moment, the only conclusion we can draw is that that person is you.”

She had turned to Louis. The Slytherin boy was looking up at her through his eyelashes, his eyes glassy from unshed tears. “Please, Professor,” he said. Harry was taken aback by the waver in his voice.  _What the hell was happening?_  “I didn’t do anything. I swear I didn’t.”

“You also swore that you were with these two all of last night,” Professor Wolff replied, harshly. Louis ducked his head once more and Harry felt his heart beat faster against his chest.

“What’s –” Zayn started, stepping forward. He paused as all five professors turned his way. “What incident?”

Professor Albion, Zayn’s head of house, wheezed, “My dear boy, you don’t know?”

Zayn looked almost annoyed at the question. “No, Professor.”

“Oh, heavens. Well, last night Larisa Dalca, you may know her, I believe she’s in your year, was found gravely injured on the fourth floor corridor,” Professor Albion said, his voice full of concern. Harry’s eyebrows rose in shock. He did know her. They’d been paired up in Defence Against the Dark Arts not last week. “She was transferred to St Mungo’s this morning, where she’s receiving treatment although, I’m afraid, she is not yet conscious. We believe that she was targeted with an unknown spell; perhaps that of her attackers own creation.”

“What?” Zayn looked horrified, “And you think the attacker was Louis? Are you serious?”

Harry froze. His insides were churning. He wanted to take back the lie, he needed to take it back, but everyone was talking and he couldn’t make out what they were saying. His heartbeat was too loud in his head, he couldn’t think. He couldn’t get the words out.

He watched, impotently, as Professor Debussy walked over to Louis and placed her hand gently on his shoulder.

Professor Wolff spoke from somewhere behind Harry. “We have a witness, Mr Malik. And Mr Tomlinson has been known to be violent. Weren’t you saying, Professor,” he turned to Professor Debussy, “that he attacked another student last term?”

Professor Debussy let out a surprised gasp. “Well, yes, but,” she floundered. “I don’t think that – It wasn’t anything – It was an isolated incident.” She finished off more confidently, but Harry could see Professor Wolff fail hide his smirk.

“Perhaps not so isolated anymore,” he replied.

In the quiet that followed Harry opened his mouth, intending to speak, but he couldn’t muster up the courage.

Professor Longbottom sighed, “Alright, boys. Thank you for your help. Lessons will be starting again soon, you best be off.”

Harry stumbled forward, stuttering out, “He didn’t – He wouldn’t –” His stared over at Louis, desperately, but Louis just blinked back at him, expression impassive.

Professor Longbottom squeezed both Harry and Zayn’s shoulders kindly, “We’ll get to the bottom of this, alright?” Leading them to the door, he said in hushed tones, “You can always come to me, you know. If you remember anything else. I’m sure I don’t need to impress upon you how seriously we’re taking this.” He gave them a pointed look and Harry suddenly felt horrifically ashamed that the professor knew how much of a coward he was. He wanted to cry but instead he nodded. The office door was shut, leaving him and Zayn outside in the cold corridor.

He’d made a mistake. He’d made the worst mistake and he hadn’t fixed it. He’d had the chance to fix it and he’d done nothing.

He almost jumped out of this skin when Zayn took hold of his arm. The Ravenclaw’s eyes were wide as he spoke, “C’mon, mate. Let’s find the others.”

~

“You did what!?”

Liam stared at Harry and Zayn, a look of thinly veiled disgust across his face.

Harry squirmed. “Liam, please,” he whined. “I didn’t know what I was doing, this is all so fucked up.”

“But, why didn’t you tell the truth?” Liam sounded completely baffled. Harry couldn’t blame him.

“Because, Niall –”

“Don’t go blaming this on me!” Niall interrupted. “I didn’t mean to get Louis in trouble.” To give Niall his dues, he had been horrified when Zayn told him what had happened. Louis was possibly Niall’s favourite person, or at least one of them.

Zayn spoke up, with a level of confidence Harry felt sure must’ve been fake, “But he didn’t actually do anything, so they’ll find that out, in the end. They’ll find whoever actually did it.”

“Sure they will, babe,” said Perrie, running her hand up Zayn’s arm. She bit her lip. “Still,” she started, but trailed of.

A panicked expression travelled over Zayn’s face. “Still what?”

Perrie grimaced, apologetically. “Well,” she shrugged. “What’s Louis going to think? That you lied to get him into trouble?”

Harry hadn’t thought he could physically feel any worse. Apparently he’d been wrong. “’Course he won’t,” he said, voice high pitched and words rushed. “We’ll explain.”

“Explain what?” Liam muttered, uncharacteristically severe. “That you’d rather he got expelled than Niall got a detention?”

“Nobody’s getting expelled! He’ll understand,” Harry yelled hysterically.

They fell into silence. It was lunchtime and they were sat at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. Harry had lost his appetite entirely, shoving his food around his plate. He hadn’t seen Louis in class since leaving Debussy’s office; he felt somehow cold without the other boy by his side.

The news about Larisa’s attack had reached the student body in no time and the hall was loud with gossip and speculation. Harry scowled as he overheard Nearly Headless Nick explaining in gory detail what her unconscious body had looked like. Harry was certain the ghost hadn’t actually seen her, but minor details such as corroborated facts and evidence meant nothing in the face of a good story.

 _Jesus_ , Harry had never felt so guilty in his life. It was debilitating. How could he have landed Louis in it so badly?

He heard Niall groan loudly and looked up to see Poll striding over to them. She slid on to the bench next to Liam and leaned in, conspiratorially, “Hey, guys. Have you heard about it?”

“Yes,” Zayn muttered quietly. Poll ignored him.

“Leigh-Anne says someone tried to do in Larisa Dalca,” she said eagerly. “You know, that Ravenclaw girl?”

“They didn’t try to do her in!” Harry shouted.

Poll’s eyes widened. She looked around the group excitedly, “Do you know who it was?”

“No!” Harry, Liam, Niall and Zayn all said at the same time.

Poll sent an odd look their way but was distracted when Jesy sauntered over, dragging her off.

Niall hunched over. “To be fair, we don’t know who did it. They might’ve been trying to do her in,” he said, miserably. Harry didn’t reply. He’d never seen Niall so upset. The thought crept through him that this could actually be a defining moment in his life and he was doing it all wrong.

Liam let out a deep sigh, eyes fixed on a point over Harry’s shoulder. He turned to see what Liam was looking at. It was the Ravenclaw table; it was only about half as busy as usual and the students that were seated were abnormally quiet. Harry felt a pang of sympathy as he spotted Rollo Fowler, one of Larisa’s closet friends, sitting alone. He was staring into space, food forgotten on his plate. Harry hadn’t really thought about what Larisa being attacked actually meant, he’d been more focused on Louis.

Liam shook his head, “There are some sick people out there, I reckon.” He stood up slowly and said to Harry, “We’ve got History of Magic now, mate. You coming?”

Harry tore his eyes away from Rollo and dragged his bag over his shoulder. “Yeah,” he croaked. “Yeah, I’m coming.”

It wasn’t until later that evening that Harry saw Louis again. They were all back in the Great Hall for dinner. Harry was pleased to discover that Louis’ suspected involvement in the whole incident wasn’t general knowledge yet. He didn’t really know why he still hadn’t told the professors the truth. Now that he wasn’t looking them in the face, it was easier to convince himself that they’d let Louis’ off without him having to admit his lie.

Zayn appeared to be taking his lead from Harry. He’d said very little since the morning, not even concentrating in their lessons. He simply maintained an expression which seemed to imply he was going through some internal, emotional trauma. Nobody liked to disturb him.

Over the usual hustle and bustle of dinner time at Hogwarts Harry stared, dumbfounded, over at the Slytherin table when he saw Greg St James stand up to leave with Louis by his side. He whacked Niall on the arm, “Ni, he’s there. Louis’ there.”

“Huh,” Niall grunted before looking over to where Harry was pointing. “Oh bugger,” he stood up. “C’mon.”

Harry, Niall and Zayn all rushed over to the front of the Great Hall, catching the two Slytherins before they left.

Harry actively chose not to think about why Louis hadn’t come over to talk to them. Instead, he reached over and rested his hand on Louis’ elbow. “Where have you been? We’ve been looking for you,” he breathed out. “They can’t have kept you in Debussy’s office all day, surely?”

Louis shrugged, stepping away from Harry’s touch. He was carefully looking anywhere but at the three boys and fiddling with the fraying strap of his bag. “They put me in isolation,” he said finally. His voice was low and rough, like he hadn’t used it in a while. “Father’s coming by in a bit, then they’ll decide what to do with me.”

“What – What do you mean, what to do with you?” he asked as Greg came up behind Louis, resting a hand on his back. Harry worked hard to contain his outrage. Greg was glaring at him. He glared back.

“Whether to expel me or not,” Louis sighed, sounding defeated.

Niall huffed, “Oh, Shit.”

“Of course they’re not going to expel you,” Zayn hurried. “You didn’t do it. They don’t still think you did it?” Harry blinked, breaths shallow.

“I know that,” said Louis tersely, finally looking up at them. “But Debussy told me that Arterbury heard what happen to Larisa this morning. He told Albion that he saw me down there.” He brushed his fringe out of his eyes. “Just getting back at me for the other day; those stupid chocolate frog cards. But I wasn’t worried, you know? ‘Cause I thought ‘It’s alright, I was with Harry and Zayn, they’ll back me up. Of course they will’,” he said lowly, tongue running across his bottom lip. This close up Harry could see that his eyes were blood-shot, he’d clearly been crying. “Only –” Louis continued, his voice becoming more agitated. “Only you didn’t.  _You lied_.”

Harry felt numb. He wasn’t supposed to make Louis sad. He was supposed to be happy. “We –” he croaked out. “Louis, I didn’t realise what – We thought it was about Niall’s thing. If I’d have known –”

Louis stepped forward, a small frown on his face as he spoke loudly, “Why didn’t you say, then? After Albion explained? Huh?” Harry noticed Greg turn his head to the house tables. People were watching them. Harry floundered, having no real answer. Louis huffed, his face scrunched into something ugly, “I get it. Poor little Slytherin boy. His father doesn’t love him, his mother doesn’t notice him, his brother doesn’t defend him. Thought it would be a laugh, did you?” Louis glared at him. As angry as the Slytherin was, he couldn’t stop his lip from trembling as he spoke. “Well, fuck you. I don’t need you, I don’t need any of you. I’m not an experiment. I’m not your toy to be played with and then forgotten.”

Harry stepped forward, taking a deep breath to level his voice, “Louis, please. I –”

“You said you wouldn’t hurt me,” Louis shouted. “ _You promised_. And I believed you, like the idiot I am. You’re supposed to be the good ones, you –” He stopped short when Greg grabbed his arm, whispering in his ear. He turned to look over his shoulder and Harry followed his gaze. Professors Turnstone and Debussy were waiting beyond the double doors of the Great Hall, standing next to a stocky, grey-haired wizard. The wizard was staring at Louis, the deep lines on his face making Harry think he must’ve been frowning for at least the last decade.

Louis paled. “That’s my father,” he said quietly. “I have to go.”

He was clearly scared and Harry wanted more than anything to go with him; to hold his hand and tell him it was going to be alright. But he couldn’t, of course he couldn’t, he’d lost that right.

He just stood, frozen to the spot next to Niall and Zayn, as the person he cared about most in the world walked away from him.

For some reason, it seemed preposterous now, Harry had assumed that Louis would understand. He’d thought that Louis would know why Harry had been such an idiot and would forgive him. Harry would say sorry, Professor Turnstone would realise Louis was innocent and, in a couple of days, they’d be joking about what a ridiculous misunderstanding it had all been.

But, of course, that was all mere fantasy. All actions had consequences, and Harry would have to stand up and face them.

~

“Did you hear? About Tomlinson?

“He attacked Larisa.”

“He’s a psycho.”

“Must’ve flipped. You know who his mother is, don’t you?”

“I always thought he was an odd one.”

“Bloody Slytherin’s. Why can’t they just leave the rest of us alone?”

The rumours were rife. They were all Harry could hear and it was driving him mad. It had been a whole day and Louis still hadn’t said a word to him. In fact, the only people that Louis would talk to were Liam and Perrie. Liam had stared guiltily at the ground that morning when he’d told them all that he was going to the Slytherin common room to keep Louis company.

Liam had left Harry, Niall and Zayn to linger in a miserable group by the courtyard. It was a Saturday morning and fairly busy with the first faintly promising weather of the year. The three of them, however, were silent. Harry stared across the courtyard to the alcove where he’d first kissed Louis.

After about half an hour of pretending not to listen to the other students gossiping around them, Zayn gave up trying to concentrate on his Astronomy homework and stalked off towards the grounds, muttering a garbled goodbye.

Niall was fiddling with his wand, levitating a collection of pebbles and getting them to fly in intricate patterns in the air. Harry watched him, morosely for a while until Liam wondered back to them. He looked tired to Harry, even though it was still the morning.

“How was he?” Harry asked as Liam approached. Niall looked up as their mutual silence was broken and shuffled up on the wall to make room for Liam to perch.

“Well,” Liam sighed, running a hand through his hair. “His dad was pretty pissed. Louis says he’s gonna talk to the Minister of Magic and all, try and get it sorted out. Bit dramatic, if you ask me, but apparently he’s been on at Louis for a while about getting a job at the Ministry after school.” Harry hummed as Liam scuffed his shoes on the cobbled ground. “Louis told him about his plans for working in Muggle Protection, you know?” said Liam, gaze on Harry.

“No,” Harry said. “When was that?”

“Last week sometime. He, er – He told me not to say anything. Said it would upset you.”

“Why? What happened?” He tried, glumly, not to linger too much on the idea of Louis protecting his feelings. It was in the past, now.

Liam shrugged, “Take a guess. Tommo Senior wasn’t too fond of the idea. Told Louis he needed to get his head out of the clouds.” Liam let out a humourless laugh. “He thinks Muggle Protection is in the clouds. I just – I don’t understand how someone could be so harsh. To their own son. It’s just wrong.”

Harry was horrified to feel his eyes start to well up.  _No._ He hadn’t cried yet and he wouldn’t cry now.  _He wouldn’t_. He took a deep, steadying breath before he said to Liam, “Thank you, Li, for looking after him. I know you feel guilty about leaving us but, I’m glad he’s got you. I don’t want him to be on his own.”

Liam nodded. He looked almost nervously up at Harry before saying, “They’ve taken away his wand.”

Harry sat up straighter where he was leaning against the wall. He watched as Niall crumpled further in on himself, burying his head against Liam’s shoulder.

“Just ‘till a decision is made, like, either way,” Liam continued. He leaned closer, wrapped an arm around Niall’s shoulder and whispered, “They almost expelled him. I think he’s really shaken by it, to be honest. Perrie’s with him now. We didn’t – We didn’t want to leave him by himself. Greg’s been there but, well, he’s got a lot on his plate.”

Niall spoke into Liam’s shoulder, his voice cold, “We have to say something, Harry. We have to. We’ve been pissing about for too long already.”

Harry was already nodding. “I know, mate. It’s all so fucked up. Christ, I’m such an idiot.” Turning to the other two, he said, “We need Zayn, then we’ll go straight to Professor Longbottom, yeah? We’ll get it all sorted.”

Liam stood up, a look of relief on his face. It only served to make Harry feel even guiltier. He was going to make it right, he thought. He locked his jaw, determined, and they headed towards the grounds.

The sun was high in the sky but a chill hung in the air, biting at their skin as they hurried down the dirt track. Harry spotted Zayn in the distance, standing by Hagrid’s hut. He was waving his arms, clearly in the middle of an impassioned conversation with someone. Harry’s lungs lurched in his chest when, as they stepped closer to the hut, Louis and Perrie came into sight. Hagrid himself cast an imposing shadow at the edge of his vegetable patch, guardedly watching the proceedings.

“It’s  _wasn’t_  deliberate. You have to believe me!” Zayn’s fraught pleas travelled through the air.

It appeared that Louis was still not feeling forgiving. “I don’t  _have_  to do anything, Zayn,” he said. “I don’t care if it was an accident. Is it still an accident that you haven’t told anyone the truth yet?” Zayn was about to reply when Louis noticed the three of them approaching. “Oh brilliant,” he spat and Niall visibly recoiled. “Here comes the ever courageous Gryffindors now. What noble deeds have you been up to, then? Who’s on the list today? Maybe little McCredie; maybe you’ll frame him for setting the Owlery alight or something? Would that be brave enough for you?”

“Louis,” Liam chastised, as Perrie gasped, but he took no notice. He only got more enraged as nobody answered him.

“Kneazle got your tongue? You were keen enough to talk yesterday. You were keen enough to tell everyone what a liar I was, how I was a nasty Slytherin who couldn’t be trusted!” he seethed.

“Now, Louis. I don’ think it was like tha’,” Hagrid reasoned from the side-lines.

A guilty expression travelled quickly across Louis’ face before vanishing again. He looked directly at Harry, and the Gryffindor had a hard time deciphering the emotion on his face. It was almost as if he was pleading, like Louis was desperate for Harry to tell him that none of it was real, that it had all been a joke. When Harry remained silent however, Louis scowled and stomped off back up the slope towards the castle.

Perrie tucked her hair behind her ear and sent an apologetic look their way before running after Louis.

“Fucking shit,” Zayn muttered as he kicked the ground.

“ _Language_ ,” said Hagrid. “An’ don’ hurt me cabbages.”

Zayn ignored him, instead heading over to a nearby rock and sitting down, his head in his hands.

“What did he want?” Harry asked Hagrid, keeping his eyes on the professor as he picked up a large rake from where it leant against the stone walls of his hut.

“Dunno if it’s for me ter say,” Hagrid replied easily, working the earth with the rake. “He was jus’ askin’ about me wand, yeh know? Before Zayn ‘ere showed up.”

“You don’t have a wand,” Liam said, abruptly. “Er,” he stammered, on seeing Hagrid’s face. “That is, they – Did – Didn’t they take it off you, Professor?”

Hagrid levelled Liam with a measured stare before saying, in his deep voice, “Yer not wrong. Reckon tha’ migh’ be why he was talkin’ to me abou’ it, don’ yeh?”

Louis was already assuming the worst, then, Harry thought. “He didn’t do it,” he said to Hagrid. “You know that, right?”

“’Course he didn’t do it. Wouldn’t hurt a fly, tha’ boy. Still needs to prove it, though. I think I’d be right in sayin’ you an’ him ‘ave some talkin’ to do.” Hagrid sighed, “He’s jus’ angry, Harry. Not without reason, neither.”

Niall stepped forward, “We’re going to tell the truth. We’re going to tell everyone where we were, really.” He was staring at the professor and Harry felt a wave of sympathy for him. Professor Hagrid was possibly Niall’s favourite teacher and he’d always taught them to be honourable and true. Looking at them now, it was hard to see how either of them lived up to that.

“I know yeh are. Yer good lads, all o’ yeh. Jus’ doin’ some learnin’, tha’s all.”

Liam laughed behind them, “We certainly are, Sir.”

The fates were against them that day, though, and they couldn’t find Professor Longbottom anywhere. Eventually, as the sun began to set, they abandoned their search, slumping down onto a bench on the sixth floor.

Harry pressed his face up against the window and squinted, trying to make out the small figures of students still moving outside.

“Albion’s about, I’ve seen him,” Zayn said to them. “Maybe we should just talk to him?” He didn’t sound convinced himself.

“No,” Niall said, rubbing the back of his neck. “No, I – I want to talk to Professor Longbottom. I don’t think I could face it with Albion,” he grimaced.

“I hear you,” Harry sighed. “Bones said he’d be back tomorrow, we’ll grab him then.” He didn’t like to admit it to himself but the delay in confessing to his own failings, especially to Professor Longbottom, was a big relief. He knew he had to do it, he could hardly believe he hadn’t done it straight away, but he was still nervous. “It’ll be dinner soon, let’s just head back.”

On their way to the Great Hall they came across Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy, whispering to each other in an otherwise deserted corridor. Albus was curled up, sitting on the window box. His head was leant down with his hair hiding his face.

The four fifth years slowed to a halt, not wanting to interrupt the scene. Harry glanced over to the others when he realised the two boys were discussing Louis.

“I don’t want him to get expelled,” Albus said. He was clearly upset. Scorpius went to sit down next to him. “I like him, he’s nice. You – You don’t think it was him, do you?” Harry grimaced at the desperate expression on the young boy’s face.

“He didn’t do it,” Scorpius said, his voice firm. He patted Albus’ shoulder. “You’ll see. It’ll all be a misunderstanding. Louis wouldn’t hurt anybody, Louis’ good.” Liam coughed and the two boys jerked their heads towards them. “Payne, we – We’re not doing anything wrong! We’re just on our way to dinner. We –”

“I know, Malfoy. Calm down, I’m not going to take any points off you.”

Harry stepped forward, his eyes on Albus. “He won’t be expelled,” he said, carefully. “Louis. He didn’t do it.”

“You promise?” Albus replied, looking up at him from red, swollen eyes.

“ _I promise._ ”

They ate dinner at the Ravenclaw table in silence. Liam had gone over to sit with Louis again, assuring them he’d tell the Slytherin they were going to confess in the morning. They must’ve looked as miserable as they felt, as Glendon came over to sit with them. He spent twenty minutes trying to cheer Niall up before giving up and letting his brother mope, occasionally squeezing his shoulders in solidarity.

That Sunday, after another morning of listening to how Slytherins could never change, Harry almost ran to Professor Longbottom’s office on the second floor. Zayn and Niall were stood either side of him as they rushed out their story.

Harry had thought that telling him quickly, getting it all out in the open might make it better. Lighten the load, or something. It didn’t. It was painful. After they’d explained everything to the professor, the Headmistress arrived and they had to explain it all again. It was slow work and Harry didn’t think there was any punishment worse than the way Professor Longbottom and Professor Turnstone looked at the three of them then.

Niall spent the entire time looking like he was on the verge of tears, whereas Zayn stared resolutely at the ground, wand clutched in his hand.

They got off lightly, considering. They each had seventy points taken from their houses and detentions every day for a fortnight. Harry was most nervous about letters being written to their parents and he was definitely not looking forward to his mum’s reaction to all this.

It got the job done, though. The news that Louis’ name had been cleared travelled through the school and his wand was returned. Harry wanted dreadfully to try and make it up to Louis, but the boy was ignoring him in class and Harry was spending all of his evenings in detention.

To top it off, many of the other Gryffindors were giving Harry and Niall the cold shoulder. Between them they’d lost almost a third of the points Gryffindor had amassed over the year. It wasn’t helped when they lost their Quidditch match to Ravenclaw. They’d played alright but, with the mood Harry was in, he just wasn’t able to summon the energy or enthusiasm needed.

All in all, he spent the weeks following their confession feeling thoroughly wretched.

~

It was early morning and the grass around the castle was covered in cool dew, a light mist still lingering on the ground. Harry had snuck out of Gryffindor Tower before any of the other boys woke up and had walked down to the boat house. He came down here sometimes; not often, but when he needed to think.

By the time Zayn found him later the mist had cleared and the sun’s rays were fighting valiantly to break through the clouds. Harry turned his head, registering the footsteps along the wooden decking. He squinted at the sky as Zayn sat down next to him, legs dangling off the edge of the dock.

“Old Fowler’s confessed,” Zayn said, nodding out to the lake.

“What?” Harry asked.

“Rollo Fowler,” he clarified. “He owned up to injuring Larisa. He’s been suspended for the rest of the year, Professor Albion came and told all the Ravenclaw’s this morning.” Zayn turned to face him, a melancholic expression on his face.

“Shit. Well, I mean – Rollo?  _Rollo_ , seriously?” Harry started, in disbelief. He scowled at the still surface of the water. “But he was friends with Larisa. Best friends.”

“It was an accident, apparently. They were working on a new spell together and it just –” Zayn stopped short, frowning. “It just went wrong. I dunno, he was pretty upset. Didn’t really say much before he left. Larisa’s getting better though, so there’s that.” Zayn pulled out his wand. He dug the nail of his thumb into the handle and asked, quietly, “You alright?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I just –” Harry shrugged, “Coulda been Louis, couldn’t it? Getting suspended.”

Zayn spoke down to his hands, “You’ll never hear me say this again, Harry, but I honestly can’t believe how stupid we were, lying like that.”

The guilt that Harry was quickly realising he was going to have to get used to rose in his throat. “You and me both,” he mumbled. He paused for a moment before voicing the fear that had been plaguing him for days, “I don’t think he’ll speak to us again.”

He listened as Zayn took a deep breath. “I think – I think I’m okay with it,” the other boy said. “I mean, I’m not  _okay_  with it, I miss him. But, like, at least the truth’s out?” Zayn turned to Harry, eyes scrunched up against the morning sun. “At least he’s not expelled or anything. And, you never know, he might come ‘round. Could take a while, but I just keep hoping he will.”

Harry nodded. “I’m sorry. I lost you your friend.”

Zayn scoffed, although it lacked any bite. “I’m my own master, Harry. You didn’t force me to lie. I’ve made my bed, you know?” he sighed. “I’m sorry you lost your boyfriend.”

“Yeah.”

They stayed out at the dock until Liam discovered them, quiet with their thoughts.

~

The crowd groaned loudly as the Quaffle bounced off the edge of the Slytherin hoops. Hufflepuff were thirty points behind still and were fighting to catch up.

Liam was yelling himself hoarse from his seat next to Harry, while Zayn pulled out a pair of earmuffs from his bag, snapping them closed over his ears. They were in the Gryffindor section of the stands, where most of the students were cheering on Hufflepuff. Harry flinched as Poll let out a wild scream from behind him, right next to his ear.

Harry was muttering to himself, eyes fixed on Louis as he darted around the stadium. The other boy still refused to speak to him, but Harry had promised himself that he wouldn’t give up. He’d get Louis back.

Just then the crowd erupted once more, banners waving in anticipation. Harry tore his gaze away from Louis and towards the Slytherin seeker, Derwent, who was holding his fist triumphantly above his head, flying loops around the stands. The flutter of the Snitch’s wings were clear from beneath his fingers. Slytherin had won.

“Damn it,” Jesy muttered a few seats down. She leant forward to whisper to Harry, “You’ll need to win against Hufflepuff next term, after that, or we’ll be out of the running completely.”

Harry grunted. He knew what a Slytherin win meant for Gryffindor as a team, but wasn’t worrying about that right now. It had been weeks now since the trouble with Larisa and Harry figured that Louis would be in a better mood, with his wand returned and having just won an important match. He jumped up from his seat, waving off Niall’s, “Hey! Where’re you going?”

He scrambled down the steps to the grounds of the stadium, running over to where the teams were exiting the pitch back to the changing rooms.

“Louis!” he yelled.

Louis stopped on the spot and turned to look over his shoulder. The smile he’d been wearing faltered when he spotted Harry jogging towards him.

“Don’t,” Harry panted when Louis opened his mouth to speak. “Don’t leave. Please, it won’t take long, you don’t have to say anything.”

Louis raised his eyebrows but closed his mouth, signalling for Harry to carry on. A sweaty-faced Greg came up to stand at Louis’ side and the rest of the team headed into the changing rooms.

“Please,” Harry continued. “I just – I need to know. If you hate me, if it’s over, then please tell me. Just tell me to stop and I won’t bother you again. I’ll leave you alone, but –” He bit his lip, stepping closer to Louis, “I miss you. I miss you so much. Let me know if we’re a lost cause,  _please_.”

Harry held his breath and Louis’ eyes travelled over his face. The Slytherin shifted his weight and licked his lips, looking down at the ground. He made to speak several times, but no words left his lips. In the end he looked up at Harry before letting out a heavy breath. “I have to go,” he said. It was the most he’d said to Harry in weeks and it was music to Harry’s ears. He had a chance. Louis brushed past Harry, the point where their bodies met tingling, and vanished into the castle.

Greg’s voice was tight when he said, “He misses you, too.” He sent Harry a pointed look before he left as well, broomstick slung over his shoulder.

All of a sudden Harry’s heart felt lighter. The birds were singing around him, the early spring sun was warming his skin and all was not lost.

~

Harry loved visiting Hogsmeade throughout the year; it was full of surprises. Every time he saw it, it looked different. Objectively he knew that it was the same place, but when you only saw a snapshot every now and then, the changes were marked. Hogsmeade painted with the warm colours of autumn, in the pale light of the snow in winter and the dewy green grass of spring each had a prized place in Harry’s memory.

As he stepped out towards the village with Liam, Niall and Zayn he turned around, walking backwards to face the Hufflepuff boy. “Weren’t you supposed to be spending today with Louis? You haven’t fallen out, have you?” he asked, concerned.

Liam laughed, “No we haven’t fallen out. He got an owl from his brother a couple of days ago, he’s coming up to Hogsmeade so they’re gonna meet up while he’s here.”

“Oh right,” said Harry. “Cool.”

“How’s it going with the two of you, anyway?” Liam asked as Harry turned back around.

“What do you mean?” he said, stiffly.

“You know what I mean,” Liam scoffed.

Harry sighed, “I just have to wear him down, I think. Get him to trust me again.”

“I had a conversation with him,” Zayn said, suddenly, as if he’d just remembered. “In Care of Magical Creatures the other day. I mean, Hagrid partnered us up, so it was a little forced. But it was nice, you know? He smiled at me in the corridor, too.”

“Yeah? That’s good.” Harry laughed as they walked into the main part of the village. “How sad are we that a smile in the corridor is considered progress?”

Niall hummed, “Better than a punch in the face.”

After they’d spent several hours going around the shops, picking up the bits and pieces that they needed, they headed to the pub. Zayn left to meet up with Perrie and the three of them decided that it was a nice enough day they could buy a couple of bottles of Butterbeer and head up to the Shrieking Shack to spend the afternoon there. Just as they turned off onto the path that led to the shack Harry heard someone shout his name.

They all stopped to look at the person walking over to them. Harry nodded for Liam and Niall to go ahead without him, muttering that he’d catch up with them, and walked over to the guy. He knew who he was, he recognised him from around school, though he looked older now. It was Louis’ brother.

“You’re Harry? The Gryffindor?” he said. It was clear that he and Louis were related. They had the same blue eyes, the same hair, the same walk. His smile was off, though, and his voice was rougher.

“Yeah,” Harry nodded. “You’re Quentin Tomlinson.”

“Right,” said Quentin, extending his hand. He was taller than Louis was and even Harry had to look up to keep eye contact. He shook the hand offered and Quentin narrowed his eyes in thought. “Yeah, I remember you now. From Quidditch. How’s the shoulder holding up?”

Harry blushed at the memory of Quentin bashing into him during his first match as Beater last year. He’d fallen straight off his broom, bruising the whole of the left side of his torso and shoulder. Madam Fitzgerald had healed it straight away, but it was still painful. He scrunched his nose up, “Fully healed now, thanks.”

“Right.”

There was an awkward moment where it seemed neither of them knew what to say.

Harry ran a hand through his hair, “Did you want to talk?”

“Yes. Sorry, I, er, I’m not very good at this,” Quentin said nervously, as he walked to sit down on a stone bench by the side of the path.

“Good at what?” Harry asked, joining him.

“Being a decent big brother.”

Harry frowned, “You’ve spoken to him, then?”

“I have, I – I should’ve done it sooner, really.” Quentin shifted on the bench, so he was facing Harry. “It’s just, we’re so similar, Louis and I, that we end up going in circles a lot of the time.”

“I can imagine that.”

Quentin paused for a second before leaning forward and saying, quite seriously, “Don’t leave him.”

Harry hadn’t expected anything like that to come out of Quentin’s mouth, it caught him off guard. “Sorry?” he spluttered.

“Don’t abandon him,” Quentin continued. “He’s already had our parents desert him, I’ve been next to useless and – Look, he’s given up on himself. He needs someone rooting for him or he’ll end up bitter and twisted like me.”

Harry blinked, watching as a couple of seventh years walked by them. “You don’t seem too bad,” he said, eventually.

Quentin laughed at that. “I’m trying very hard right now, for Lou’s sake. I – I know it probably seems completely dysfunctional to you, our relationship, but I do love him.” He bit his lip, fiddling with his jacket zip before looking up at Harry again. He sounded so earnest when he said, “He’s my little brother, of course I love him. He’s – He’s the best of us, really. I’ve just never been able to show my feelings very well. I wonder now if I was really trying as hard as I should’ve.”

Harry ran a hand across his face. “I want to work it out with him, I do. I just don’t see how I can,” he groaned. “I don’t know how to get him to trust me again.”

“Keep trying. He’s just scared of defying father’s orders, or showing signs of weakness. Something like that, maybe both. Bad form, you know,” Quentin mocked, “to appear weak.”

“I didn’t mean to land him in it. It’s just that Niall –”

Quentin rolled his eyes. “I’m not interested. You explain what you need to explain to him.” He sighed, sitting up straighter, “He and I, we’ve both been made to apologise for who we are all are lives, by everyone; our own family, friends, strangers. Louis doubly so. I don’t think he could take it if he had to start apologising to you too.” Quentin frowned. The way his forehead crinkled made his resemblance to Louis more pronounced. “And he shouldn’t be like that,” he said. “He should be loud and confident and funny. You can tell, sometimes, you know? That that’s what he’s supposed to be, but it just gets taken over by him doubting himself.”

Harry worried his lip. “I know what you mean. Sometimes he’s – Sometimes he’s different, like – Like he’s being himself. Really himself, not just, like, what he thinks people want to see.”

Quentin fixed him with a look. “Has he ever told you the story of Grandma Wendy?” he asked.

“No.” Harry leant back against the stone bench. “He’s mention her, though. She’s the one that’s related to the Horans, right?”

“Yeah, that’s the one. You’re friend Niall? Lou mentioned him. Sounds like a laugh.” Harry’s heart soared. So Louis was still talking about them, then. They were still in his thoughts. “Anyway,” Quentin carried on. “None of our family have anything to do with her anymore. We used to, we saw her all the time, but father banned us from having any contact with her. That was probably, what, eight years ago now? Father hasn’t even mentioned her name in that time. His own mother, just completely cut out of his life. All our lives.”

“Why? What happened?” Harry asked, astounded.

“Louis wanted to learn the piano, right? He must’ve been about seven, maybe eight. Father always said that he was away with the fairies, so shot the idea down, tried to get him on the  _right track_ ,” he said, putting on a voice Harry assumed was an imitation of his father. “Grandma ignored him, I mean, she usually did and she started teaching Louis the basics. Obviously father found out, went a bit mental about it.” Quentin rubbed his jaw, nose scrunched up as he spoke, “It’s just that, he was really good, Louis. Grandma knew, so she carried on teaching him in secret. When father realised what she was doing, he pretty much banished her. Like, literally, forbade her from coming to the house, from writing, or anything.”

“What?” Harry couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“Right, can you imagine?” Quentin scoffed. “Not talking to your mother for eight years, all because of some harmless piano lessons. Nah.” He shook his head. “He’s a control freak. No, he’s more than that, he’s a dictator. There’s no room for free thought at all. I’m alright, I’ve got out but Louis’ still under his thumb.” Quentin sniffed. He looked frustrated, at himself or at his father, Harry couldn’t tell. He turned to Harry once more. “I wasn’t surprised, when he came out, you know? But, father was so angry, he locked Louis in his room for pretty much the whole summer. Almost didn’t let him come back to Hogwarts, thought it was a bad influence.”

Harry stared at the ground for a while, mulling Quentin’s words over in his head. “I’d never hold who his family is against him. You can’t help who you’re related to,” he said, quietly. For some reason, at that moment, sitting next to Quentin, talking about all the things that had gone wrong in Louis’ life, he felt so young, so unprepared for the world.

“Story of my life. Maybe just make sure he knows that? He comes across as confident but he’s really quite insecure. Like most Slytherins, really. We’re a laughable bunch,” Quentin gave a self-depreciating smile.

Harry nodded, not really knowing what else to say. Instead, in fell back on good, old faithful manners. “Congratulations,” he muttered. “On the wedding.”

Quentin smiled, a proper, happy smile. “Thank you,” he said. He stood up, turning back to Harry as he made to leave. “You never know, if you make it up to Lou, might even see you there.” Harry smiled. “Nice to meet you, man.”

“Yeah. You too,” Harry waved, watching Quentin’s retreating form disappear out of sight.

~

Niall was frowning over at the Slytherin table. He’d been doing it throughout most of dinner so the rest of them ended up simply ignoring him. Just as the desserts were being cleared away he blurted out, “So you’re saying that he smiled at you?”

It took them all a few seconds to register that Niall was talking to them. Zayn pulled a face, “You mean about Louis? Yeah. He sat next to me in the library, as well. This afternoon.” Zayn nodded to the rest of them, as if they should be impressed. Frankly, Harry was impressed as well as a little jealous.

“Sat next to you?” Niall repeated, outraged. “Ah, fuck this,” he said. He slammed his hands on the table as he stood up, causing Jade, who was sitting next to him, to squeal in alarm. “I’m just gonna go in, like a stealth attack.”

Liam looked somewhat concerned at the suggestion but Perrie laughed, “What do you mean ‘stealth attack’? You’re not at war.”

“No, I know. But, like, I’m just gonna cuddle him until he agrees to be my friend again,” Niall said, looking determined.

Zayn’s face split into a wide smile. Harry ducked his head, trying not to laugh openly in Niall’s face. “So more like a cuddle attack?” he asked.

“Ninja cuddle attack,” Zayn added.

Harry nodded in agreement, “’Niall the Ninja Cuddler’. That’s what they’ll call you.”

Niall sent them a look. “What’s a ninja?”

Liam’s shoulders trembled as he spluttered out a fond laugh and Harry shook his head, “Nothing, mate. It doesn’t matter.”

Niall sniffed, “Well, you can laugh all you want but this’ll work. Nobody can resist a good, old-fashioned hug. Besides, we’re family, ain’t we? He has to forgive me at some point.”

Harry raised his eyebrows and watched Niall approach the Slytherin table. “If this works,” he muttered to the group, “I’m going to be pissed. Louis can’t forgive everyone but me, that’s not fair.”

Liam shifted in his seat as they all watched Louis stand up to leave, only to be caught and man-handled by Niall into what looked to be the most awkward hug in the world. From what they could see of Louis’ face, he seemed vaguely terrified.

“It makes sense, though, doesn’t it?” Liam whispered. “You were closer, so it’ll take longer for, like, wounds to heal and stuff.”

Harry sagged, eyes narrowing as Louis started to relax into the hug Niall was forcing onto him. “I don’t want it to take longer.”

Liam didn’t respond, but just squeezed his shoulder.

It turned out that a ninja cuddle attack was quite an effective technique at restoring friendship. The group watched, dismayed, as Niall and Louis properly embraced each other. Louis buried his head into Niall’s shoulder and they could see where Niall was holding onto him for dear life.

Jade clapped excitedly, grinning at the rest of the table.

They all jumped as Greg St James sat down in Niall’s vacated seat. He ran his tongue over his gums before saying, in an incredibly bored voice, “I suppose it’s sweet in, like, a vomit inducing kind of way.” He pulled out an orange from his pocket and started rolling in in his palm. “So what’s your plan, Styles?”

“I –” Harry stuttered, shocked. “I don’t really have one.”

Greg pulled a face. “That’s pretty shitty. Need to get it together, don’t you?”

Harry stared, open mouthed. “Y – Yeah.” He rallied, “Greg –”

“St James,” he interrupted.

“Huh?”

“Look, it’s nice that everyone’s friends and shit,” he said, sounding like he didn’t think it was nice at all. “And, like, Louis can call me Greg but to you I’m still St James, yeah?”

“Right, sorry,” Harry said, sending a bewildered look to Liam and Zayn. “So, um,  _St James_ , could you bring me Louis’ watch? It broke, but he wouldn’t have thrown it away.”

Greg frowned at the orange he was now unpeeling. “His watch? I mean, yeah, I ‘spose I can.  _Why_?”

“I’m forming a plan.”

Greg rolled his eyes before they were all distracted when a loud sob came from the front of the hall. They all turned to find Niall crying in Louis’ arms.

“Oh,” said Zayn, looking a little panicked. “We should probably, like, relocate them, or something.”

“Yeah,” Liam agreed and he and Zayn scurried off to help a flustered looking Louis with a tearful Niall. Harry bit his lip and turned to speak to Greg. The other boy, however, had vanished.

~

The next morning Greg shoved Harry behind a tapestry while on his way to Herbology. He pushed Louis’ broken watch into Harry’s hand, glared at him and then left, without saying a word. As Harry fought his way back out from behind the tapestry, Niall frowned. “He’s an odd one, that St James, isn’t he?”

Harry hummed. He knew it wasn’t their fault, but he’d been feeling a little resentful towards Niall and Zayn the past few days. He tried to shake it off. “A bit. He’s helping me out, though, so,” he shrugged.

Harry handed the watch over to Professor Albion. He knew if Louis couldn’t fix it, he’d have no chance, but he was hoping the professor would be able to help. Initially he’d been sceptical, but after Harry had explained what he was trying to do, he promised to do his best. The whole school was apparently aware of the drama going on in their group, students and teachers alike.

It wasn’t until later in the week that he got any results. Niall had gone back to working with Louis in Divination and Harry had resorted to spending most of his time in lessons staring at the Slytherin boy in a daydream.

“Mr Styles, if you could stay behind for just a moment.”

Harry almost jumped for joy when he heard the professor say those words after a particularly gruelling Charms class. Ed gave him a funny look, but shut the door behind him as he left, leaving Harry alone with the professor. Professor Albion pulled out a small box from his desk drawer and opened it to reveal Louis’ watch. The second hand was moving around the clock face in a regular rhythm. Harry smiled, “You got it working!”

Professor Albion nodded, “It was trickier than it first seemed. I had to discuss it with Professor Turnstone, in the end. It was a case of replacing the pallet, other than that, it’s in pretty good condition.”

Harry stuffed his wand into his pocket, taking the watch, “Replacing …?”

“The pallet,” the professor said, kindly. “Details, dear boy. I hope it works. The Headmistress passes on her good luck.”

He bit down on his grin, “Yes. Thank you, Sir.”

“You’re welcome. Now, hurry up, lessons start again in two minutes.”

Harry didn’t get a chance to put his plan into action until later that afternoon. Admittedly, it wasn’t a particularly good plan, principally consisting of giving Louis his watch back and begging for forgiveness but, Harry thought, it was a start.

The last lesson of the day was Potions. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, all the work they’d been doing recently had been solo work. Although Harry and Louis still sat at the same desk, Louis had been doing an expert job of pretending Harry didn’t exist. As he stared down at his Invigorating Draught, Harry grimaced. It looked a lot thicker than the demonstration batch and he tapped his wand to his lip, thoughtfully. He glanced over to Louis’ potion, which looked too thin by far. Louis caught him staring and he froze. Deciding that he needed to press on with ‘Mission Cute Slytherin Mark Two’, he plastered a nervous smile onto his face. “Maybe we could mix them together?” he joked.

Louis blinked at him and blushed, “You’re putting me off. I made it in Potions Club last week just fine.”

Harry sagged, “Sorry.” He looked down at his bag, where the small box containing Louis’ watch was sticking out of the top. “I, er, I have something for you,” he said, his voice quieter than he intended.

“I don’t think –” Louis started, but Harry shoved the box into his hand before he could protest. Louis frowned when he opened it. “Granddad’s watch. You – You fixed it?”

Harry brought his arm across his body, to scratch at his elbow. He shrugged, “Well, I got it fixed.”

Louis continued to stare at the watch as he ran his fingers over it. Harry could see the muscles in his jaw working underneath the skin. “It doesn’t change anything,” he said at last.

“Louis, I miss you.”

“I’m not allowed to see you,” Louis said, looking up at him.

Harry paused. “So it’s not that you don’t want to see me?” he asked, hopefully.

“I – I don’t know if I can forgive you.” Louis licked his lips, looking around the classroom at the other students. “I trusted you, Harry. You hurt me.”

Harry rushed forward, taking Louis’ hand in his. His breath caught when the other boy didn’t pull away. “I know, I’m so sorry. I hate myself for it, I do. But I’ll make it up to you. I’ll spend all of my time making it up to you. I – I spoke to your brother.” Louis jerked his head to look Harry in the eye. He blinked rapidly, a flush creeping up his neck. “I would never,” Harry continued, voice deep. “I promise, I will never make you feel like you don’t belong. I –”

“ _Again._ ”

It wasn’t anything more than a whisper, but it brought Harry to a stop. “What?” he asked.

Louis spoke to the floor of the dungeon, “You won’t make me feel like I don’t belong,  _again._ ”

Harry wanted to cry. “Shit, Louis. I’m so sorry. I’ll do anything I can. I’ll shout from the roof tops, I tell the world how good you are, how kind you are, please.”

There was a silence where all Harry could focus on was the sound of Louis breathing. “I don’t think my father would like that. He says I shouldn’t see you.”

Harry groaned, “You know what? I don’t give a damn what your father says. The man’s a dick.”

Louis whispered frantically, eyes wide, “That’s my father you’re talking about, you can’t –”

“Louis, the man is a dick. He is an absolute first rate arse hole and if I had my way, he’d have precisely zero say in how you live your life. Tell me I’m wrong.” Louis breathed heavily, staring daggers at Harry, but he didn’t argue. “I miss you,” Harry pleaded. “Please, just come to the common room tonight. I know you can’t forgive me, not straight away, but please let me try.”

“Right class,” Professor Debussy’s voice interrupted over the noise of the class. “Please hand in your vials and clear up, that’s us done for the day.”

Harry turned back to Louis, but the other boy was already hurriedly packing away his equipment.

~

In the Gryffindor common room, the large clock on the wall ticked loudly and obnoxiously as the evening went on. Harry glared at it. He hadn’t realised before, but he really hated that clock.

“Will you relax?” Liam said to him, clearly amused. “He’ll come. I’m sure he’ll come. You trying to melt the clock with the power of your mind alone isn’t going to make any difference.”

“Might make me feel better, though,” he muttered.

Liam didn’t respond, but returned to his game of wizards chess against Zayn. Niall was lying on the floor making up examples of ornithomancy he’d experienced in the past week for his Divination homework. A small cough came from one of the portraits hanging on the wall and Harry looked up to see the Fat Lady smiling down at him. “Louis’ here to see you, Harry,” she said. “Shall I let him in?”

Harry sat up on the sofa and gave the Fat Lady a curt nod.

“Harold, don’t panic,” Zayn warned.

“I’m not panicking. Who’s panicking? Certainly not me,” Harry muttered under his breath, staring at the portrait hole.

Seconds later, Louis was clambering through. Harry noted with pleasure that he was wearing his watch again. He hovered awkwardly by the sofa. “Hi,” he said. He fidgeted, twirling his wand in his fingers as students around the room muttered, staring. Louis Tomlinson was still a cause of gossip among some of the younger years.

“Hi,” Harry croaked, throat dry. “Do you wanna sit down?” Louis did, sending a small smile towards Liam, Niall and Zayn. Harry shifted against the cushions. “Thank you for coming.”

Louis shrugged. He looked nervous, his eyes kept darting around the room.

“I don’t – I don’t really know what to say to you, Louis,” Harry said, suddenly realising that he hadn’t planned this far ahead. “I just know that I miss you, I want you back. I don’t know if that’s possible but can we try?”

Louis turned to him. He was biting on his bottom lip uncertainly. He nodded, so slowly, and said, “I’d like that.”

Harry’s heart all but stopped. “Seriously?” he said, voice no more than a whisper. He didn’t want to ruin it.

But Louis just nodded again, more definite this time. He shuffled closer to Harry on the sofa and Harry could feel the other three boys watching them. Louis looked him straight in the eye. “Just – Just promise you won’t – You won’t do that again,” he said, firmly.

“No. No, never. I promise, I swear on my life, I won’t. I’ve learnt my lesson.” He clasped both of Louis’ hands in his own. “I’m not what everyone thinks. I’m a coward. But I want to be brave for you, Louis. I want to be everything for you.”

Louis gave a watery smile. “If my father finds out,” he said, voice shaking. “ _When_  my father finds out, that’ll be it. He won’t give me any more chances.”

“It’s him that shouldn’t be getting any more chances. You’re not on your own, Louis. We’ll be here, whatever happens. We’ll probably be a bit useless, but we’ll always be here.”

He pulled Louis into a tight embrace and almost sobbed in relief as he felt Louis hug him back. He could hear the others voicing their agreement. Louis was muttering into his shoulder, something Harry couldn’t make out, so he pulled back, his hands tangled in Louis hair, their foreheads resting together.

“I’m sorry,” Louis was saying. “For all the stuff I said. I –”

“You don’t have to apologise. You were right,” Harry said, pressing a kiss onto the top of Louis’ head. The Slytherin wrapped his arms around Harry once more and Harry squeezed his eyes shut. This was it. He had him back and he was never going to be so stupid as to let him go again.


	4. Chapter 4

_Or perhaps in Slytherin,_

_You’ll make your real friends,_

_Those cunning folk use any means,_

_To achieve their ends._

“So this is where you’re hiding.”

Harry smiled and turned to Louis, who was working his way down the garden path. As Louis reached him, Harry held out his hand and pulled the other boy down to sit on the ground next to him. It was loud in the garden, the noise from the nearby road sounding in the background and the kids from next door giggling noisily over the hedge.

“Come meet my gnomes,” Harry said, scooting closer. Louis and Liam were both spending the Easter holiday at Harry’s house. Louis had told his parents he was staying at Hogwarts for the fortnight and Harry knew that he was stressed about it. Both he and Liam had been spending there time trying to reassure him and, thankfully, Louis had become much more relaxed. “So,” Harry continued. “You already know Ebenezer.”

“Ah, we meet again, old friend.” Louis laughed as the gnome scowled at him, waddling back over to the opening of the burrow and disappearing down the hole. “Huh. Maybe he remembers me as his enslaver,” he pulled a face.

“Nah, they love it here. They can leave at any time, look,” Harry said, pointing to the opening in the enclosure fence. “They just have all they need here, so they stick around.”

Louis smiled, moving to settle down in the gap between Harry’s legs and leaning back against his chest. “Who are the other ones, then?”

“Well, that little one over there is d’Artagnan.”

“d’Artagnan?” Louis asked.

“Yeah,” Harry replied. “Like, in the Three Musketeers? They’re from a Muggle book. I ‘spose they were like, the Aurors of seventeenth century Muggle France.”

“Sounds cool.”

“It is cool.” Harry ran his hands through Louis’ hair. “Let me give you a lesson in Muggle popular culture.”

“It’s the holiday, surely we shouldn’t be learning?” He could almost hear the frown in Louis’ voice.

“What’s that? What’s happened to Mr Studying-Is-My-Hobby?”

Louis fidgeted where he sat. “Shut up,” he laughed as a particularly loud squeal came from next door. “Fine, gone on then. Teach me. I want to be taught,  _please_.”

“Since you asked so nicely. So, yeah, there’s Ebenezer, from – Hang on,” Harry stopped. “How’d you know about him, then?”

“Who?” Louis cocked his head so he could look at Harry’s face. “Oh, what, Ebenezer? I hadn’t really thought about it. I suppose when me and Quentin were little Grandma used to read Muggle stories to us. We had ‘A Christmas Carol’ at Christmas, obviously, and ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’ and, I think, ‘The Secret Garden’?” His face was scrunched up like he couldn’t quite remember.

“Really?”

“Yeah, my favourite was ‘Peter Pan’, though. Quentin was Peter Pan, I was Michael and Grandma was Wendy.” He looked back over to Harry, “’Cause her name was Wendy, right? I used to think she really was her.”

Harry smiled, “Cute.” He reached out and tapped Louis on the nose. Louis scowled at him, but Harry just laughed. “I’ll fill in the gaps, then?”

“Right, wow me with you original name giving abilities.”

“Well, I’ve got a few magical ones. That’s Dumbledore,” he said, nodding over to the enclosure.

Louis snorted. “’Course he is. He looks a bit menacing, though.”

“Yeah. He’s a brute, to be honest, I tend to leave him to mum. He grew after I named him.” Louis laughed as they watched the fat, frowning gnome kick at a small rock in the ground. Harry pointed his arm over Louis’ shoulder, “So the three in the corner are Gandalf, Elvis and Shakespeare.” Louis grunted, clearly confused. “Gandalf’s from a Muggle novel. He’s a wizard.”

Louis raised his eyebrows. “Really?”

“Uhuh, it’s pretty cool. Um, Elvis was an amazing singer from the fifties or sixties, or about then, and Shakespeare was a famous playwright in the Elizabethan times. He did ‘Romeo and Juliet’, you’ve heard of that, right?”

“Yeah. Yeah, yeah,” Louis was nodding enthusiastically. “I did an assignment on it in fourth year. ‘Take him and cut him out in little stars’ and all that.” Harry grinned, impressed. Louis coughed, “Anyway. So, how many do you have?”

Harry shrugged. “About ten, I think.” He pointed to a small gnome with wispy grey hair coming out of his ears. “There’s Aristotle, over there,”

“Oh,” Louis started, leaning forward. “We learnt about him in Muggle Studies, too.” He turned his entire body around so he was facing Harry properly. “You’re smart.”

“Not really,” Harry said, barking out a laugh. He shrugged, “It’s general knowledge.”

Louis pouted, “Still smart, though.”

Harry heart sped up as he watched Louis kneel, placing his hands on Harry’s shoulders, a small smile on his face, and crawl onto Harry’s lap.

“What are you –?”

“What does it look like I’m doing, Harry?” Louis smirked, leaning his head down to take Harry’s lips with his own.

It was burning where their bodies touched. Harry kissed Louis back, fiercely, arching forward to keep their mouths pressed together. The kids in the garden next door had gone quite. The noise of the road had vanished. Harry kept his hands hovering a hairs width above Louis’ legs, hardly daring to touch.

“Go on,” Louis gasped against his lips. It was all Harry needed to spur him forward. He gripped Louis’ thighs, feeling the rippling muscle underneath his palms.

When Louis eventually pulled away his lips were rosy and wet. “You can breathe,” he grinned.

“Right,” Harry exhaled with a shaky laugh. “Sorry.”

A voice came from the top of the garden, pulling the two of them out of the moment. “Not interrupting, am I?” Georgie smirked, arms crossed, staring down at them.

“Oh, shut up,” Harry grumbled at his sister, pushing himself off the ground. Louis was already on his feet, blushing furiously, but not looking the least bit sorry.

Georgie scoffed, “Whatever. Mum says lunch’s ready.” She turned and walked back inside. Harry smiled at Louis before the two of them followed.

“Got an owl from Niall,” Liam greeted, walking towards the kitchen table with a bowl of salad in one hand and a large bag of crisps in the other.

Harry shuffled his chair closer to the table, reaching over to grab a knife and fork. “Oh yeah?”

“Uhuh. He said that Helen’s been rehomed.” He sat down next to Harry’s dad, Daniel. “Somewhere more ‘conducive to her continued development’, apparently.”

“Who’s Helen?” Louis asked. Harry’s mum set a plate out in from of him and he added, “Thanks Alice,” before turning to Harry for an answer.

“Helen is what he called the Occamy he was helping.”

“Oh,” Louis bit his lip, looking down to his plate. Harry had told him all that had happened with Niall and Zayn, although it hadn’t down much to appease Harry’s guilt.

Daniel frowned, “What’s one of them when it’s at home?”

“It’s a snake with wings, dad,” Harry said, flippantly. “Everyone knows that.”

“Harry,” Alice reprimanded from across the table. She took a sip of her drink. “Did you boys want to come shopping with me later?”

Harry pulled a face and said, “Not really, mum,” at the same time Louis leant forward, clearly interested.

“Like a Muggle shop?” he asked, enthusiastically.

“That’s right, dear,” Alice nodded.

Louis turned to Harry. “Can we?”

Harry sighed. He didn’t want to disappoint Louis, but at the same time, shopping was so  _boring_. “Honestly, it’s not that exciting.”

The other boy wasn’t perturbed. “But if I want to help Muggles when I’m older I should learn as much as I can about them, surely?”

Liam nodded, “So you’re back on the Muggle Protection thing, then?”

“Yeah,” said Louis. “It’s what I want to do, so I’m gonna do it. Nobody can say no.” Harry sucked his lips and poked Louis’ leg, earning him a smile.

“Good man,” Daniel said. “And if you’re going to the shop, maybe pick up a bottle of that sauvignon blanc that I like?”

~

The week wore on and before Harry knew it they were back at Hogwarts. Back to the daily grind of lessons, homework and ever increasing revision.

As if to ensure that they were as worried as they possibly could be before their O.W.L.s started the fifth years were offered career’s advice from their head of house. When it was his turn Harry found himself simply staring at Professor Longbottom from across the desk.

The professor was frowning at him slightly, not in anger, but in confusion. “So you don’t have even a vague idea what you’re interested in doing?”

Harry shrugged. “No, not really. Well,” he glanced nervously at the door. “I ‘spose – No, it’s stupid.”

Professor Longbottom smiled kindly, “I can assure you, I’ll have heard worse. Can I take a guess?”

He raised his eyebrows in surprise before nodding.

“You want to be a singer, right? Or a musician? Something similar?”

Harry pouted, “How’d you know?”

The professor’s laugh echoed around the office. “Harry, I think in every class I’ve ever taught you I’ve had to ask you to stop singing while you work.” He didn’t look annoyed, just amused and Harry relaxed.

“Any tips for me?” he asked.

“There’s not really much advice I can give you, to be honest.” Professor Longbottom sighed, “Why does no one ever ask me about becoming a Herbologist, hey? I could work with that.”

“Sorry,” Harry said, pushing down a smile. “So can I go now then, Sir?”

“I suppose. Go get some singing lessons or something.” He leant forward on his desk, looking at Harry seriously for a moment. “Get a backup plan, too, for Merlin’s sake.”

Harry nodded as he stood to leave, “Yes, Sir.”

Twenty minutes later and Harry was sprawled out on the grass, soaking in the cool April sun. Louis and Niall were sat beside him, discussing their own careers advice sessions and Harry was listening with closed eyes.

“It was alright, actually,” Niall was saying, in response to a question from Louis. “I asked the Professor about, like, working with animals and stuff. He seemed to think it was a good idea.”

Louis hummed. “Have you told your mum yet? About not wanting to be a Healer?”

“No, but, you know, I figure she’ll be alright with it in the end. I mean, it’s kinda the same thing isn’t it? Just with animals instead of people.”

Harry heard Louis laugh and could almost picture the crinkling of his eyes. “That’s true. She’ll be fine. Just wants you to do well, don’t she?”

“Yeah.”

The conversation became more muffled and Harry curled in on himself, protectively, as someone pressed down on his stomach. “No,” he groaned, refusing to open his eyes.

“Yes,” came Louis’ voice. “Can’t laze outside all day, Harry.”

“But I can at least try,” he whined, eventually opening his eyes. Louis was staring at him fondly while Niall stood a little way back, looking slightly affronted at the couple.

“No,” said Louis. “Come on. We’re meeting Liam and Zayn in the library for some Defence revision. It’s vampires today, you like vampires.”

Harry relented. “I do like vampires. Fine, then, if we must,” he said and the three of them set off back to the castle.

~

It was May and by now all lessons were devoted solely to revision. Harry took blessed relief in the approach of the next Quidditch match between Hufflepuff and Gryffindor, although even that came with a certain amount of pressure.

They had to win this match to stand a chance at winning the Cup. It was at times like this that Harry was glad he was a Beater. It wasn’t that Beaters were any less important to the game, matches had been won and lost before on the skill of the Beaters, but he knew the eyes of the crowd weren’t focused solely on him.

The game was aggressively fought, with both teams determined to win. The lead switched between each of the houses every other minute and soon Harry lost track.

He scanned the crowd for a moment and spotted Louis, who had surreptitiously snuck into the Gryffindor stands with the others. Although most of the fifth year students were more than used to seeing him in the common room, some of the younger Gryffindors still sent glares Louis’ way whenever they saw him.

On tearing his gaze away he noticed immediately that the Hufflepuff Seeker was careening across the pitch, directly in his eye line. He shot into action instantly, diving down to where the nearest Bludger was heading towards Daisy and giving it an almighty whack. He squinted towards the Hufflepuff Seeker and gave a self-satisfied smile as the Bludger knocked the Seeker off course. By the time she had recovered, the Snitch had apparently vanished once more.

Poll flew past him and yelled, “Nice work, Styles,” as the game continued around him.

Finally, at last, the game was won. Hufflepuff caught the Snitch, but Gryffindor had used the time Harry had bought for them wisely, scoring goal upon goal. As the team headed back through the changing room and into the castle, they were accompanied by uproarious cheers from the stands.

When he was almost back to the common room Harry laughed heartily, setting his broom to one side as he watched Liam shuffle towards him, face forlorn underneath yellow and black face paint. “Don’t be upset with me, Liam,” He chided, teasing. “There was only ten points in it.”

Liam pouted. “I’m not upset. I just really thought we had a chance this year, after beating Ravenclaw and everything.”

Louis, Niall and Zayn were not far behind, all with bright, smiling faces and their cloaks billowing behind them.

“Now, I’m not a great tactician,” Zayn teased. “But even I could tell that was cutting it a bit close, mate.” He smirked, ruffling Harry’s hair.

Harry ducked his head, “Yeah, well, the Hufflepuff Chasers all have Comet 330’s. Came out last month. Knew I should’ve waited to get one, damn it.”

Niall rolled his eyes and Louis scoffed, “It’s not the broom, Harry, that makes the player. You’ve done all you can. Your best was enough.”

“You’re just saying that because you want Slytherin to win.”

Louis grinned. “’Course I want Slytherin to win. And we will.” He stepped forward, looking up at Harry through thick eyelashes. “But I’d be delighted to see Gryffindor take second place.”

“Aw. You say the nicest things.”

“I do,” he said, seriously. “Enjoy the celebrations.”

“Come on, Louis,” he whined. “You’d be more than welcome. Nobody minds.”

“I know, but a Slytherin in the ranks would dampen the buzz a little, don’t you think?” He stepped closer still and reached up on tip toes to press a kiss to Harry’s cheek. “Love you. See you tomorrow.” He squeezed Harry’s arm and strode off to the dungeons, twirling his wand between his fingers.

It was a few seconds before Harry could process the words Louis had said. “Shit,” he moaned. The other boys sent him confused looks. “He said he loved me.”

Niall let out an awkward laugh. “Um, is that a problem?”

“No,” Harry breathed. “I just wanted to say it first.”

Zayn sighed dramatically and clapped Harry on the shoulder. “Can’t win in everything. Tell him tomorrow, your fans are waiting.” He pointed to the increasing crowd of Gryffindors heading back towards the common room. “Wouldn’t want to disappoint.”

~

“I love you.”

Louis dropped his shoulders and paused as he buttered the toast on his plate. “I know, Harry. You’ve told me several times this morning already.”

Harry shrugged, grinning stupidly at Louis and leaning his head against the Slytherin’s shoulder.

Across the table Niall shook his head at them and said, “You two are horrendous,” before carrying on his conversation with Liam and Zayn about how, exactly, they’d rob Gringotts Bank if the situation arose.

Liam was in the middle of describing an elaborate plan which involved inventing a spell to freeze time when the post arrived. Edmund swooped down to perch in front of Harry, landing artfully between a jug of milk and a bowl of porridge. He didn’t have any letters for him but Harry spent a few minutes feeding him small strips of bacon regardless.

It wasn’t until Louis failed to stifle a sob beside him that Harry realised anything was wrong.

“Louis, mate. You alright?” Liam asked, concern etched across his features. Harry inched closer to Louis on the bench, resting his hand on the small of Louis’ back.

The boy was holding a small square of parchment in his shaking hand. From what Harry could make out, the letter was only a few lines long.

“Louis,” he said softly. “What is it?”

“They, er – They’ve chucked me out,” Louis responded, his voice catching as he spoke.

“What?”

“My parents. I can’t – I have to – Sorry –” he stammered out before pushing off from the table and heading out of the door. He’d left the letter on the table and Harry immediately went to pick it up.

“What does it say?” Niall urged.

“ _Louis_ ,” Harry started, reading from the parchment. “ _It has come our attention that you have flouted our specific instructions to stay away from the –_ ” Harry broke off for a moment and coughed, “ _the Styles boy. If this is indeed the case you will be required to establish alternative accommodation for the future. You are no longer welcome in our home. You may provide us with a forwarding address for delivery of your remaining possessions. With disappointment and disapproval, Fredrick and Adrienne Tomlinson._ ” Harry ran a hand over his face. “Shit.”

“Disappointment and disapproval? What a pair of – They’re just foul. They’re the worst, the absolute worst,” Niall spat out.

“I have to go make sure he’s alright,” Harry rushed, climbing out from the bench.

“I’m asking my mam and dad if he can stay with us,” said Niall, pulling a roll of parchment out of his bag.

Zayn followed Harry for a couple of steps, “We’re all on his side. Make sure he knows?”

“Tell him I’m asking right now,” Niall yelled and Harry nodded before jogging towards the doors. “Someone chuck me a quill,” he heard Niall say as he left the Great Hall.

Harry marched down corridor after corridor, his strides long and his eyes peeled. He often praised the fact that you could hide from people so easily at Hogwarts but right now he was cursing the wizards that built it with all his might.

“Harry!” He stopped in his tracks, turning on the spot to see Ed and Castor rushing over to him. “Is Louis okay?” Castor asked. “He just ran down the Arithmancy corridor, looked like he was crying.”

“The Arithmancy corridor?” Harry looked around him, trying to work out the quickest route there. “Right, thanks.”

“What’s the matter with him?”

Harry bit his lip. He hadn’t really thought about it before but Louis had worked his way into all of his friends lives, even Castor and Ed. “He’s parents have just chucked him out.”

Ed rolled his eyes and Castor groaned. “Oh, fuck me,” Castor said. “You know, I was talking to my mum about this over the holiday. She was in the same year as Louis’ dad, right? Said he was a first class dick head, even then.”

Harry almost laughed. “That’s hardly surprising.”

“Right,” Castor agreed. As Harry set off again he shouted after him, “Hey, tell him chin up from us, yeah?”

It didn’t take him long to reach the Arithmancy corridor, having taken a short cut behind a fake wall. He found Louis in one of the disused classrooms and immediately ran up to him. “Louis,” he gasped. “I’m sorry. It’s – It’s my fault. I read the letter, it said –”

“I don’t care what it said,” Louis said, forcefully. His eyes were red, tears spilling over his cheeks. He looked up at Harry as the Gryffindor curled his hands around the back of Louis’ head. “It’s not your fault, it’s their fault. They’re – They’re –” his lip trembled as he struggled to speak. “Like, I knew this was coming, but I suppose I just hoped they’d surprise me, you know? That they’d turn out to be decent people at the last minute. What a joke.” He ducked his head and his shoulders started to shake.

“Oh, Louis,” Harry sighed and pulled him into a hug. He couldn’t think of any comforting words, so just held Louis to him as the other boy cried. He pressed his lips gently to the top of Louis’ head and muttered, “Niall’s asking his parents if you can stay with them, like, when school finishes.” He felt Louis nod against his neck.

After a few more minutes Louis’ crying quietened, the shakes wrecking his body becoming less violent. Harry whispered in his ear, “I love you.”

“I know, Harry,” Louis replied, tearfully. After a beat, he added, “Tell me again.”

In the end, word got around to Professor Debussy and she called Louis to her office. Afterwards, Louis told them all that she’d offered to pay his parents a visit, but he’d refused. She’d been kind, he said, and had told him that he could come and talk to her anytime. Luckily, Niall’s parents had been more than happy to have Louis stay with them. After Louis had assured Niall that it wouldn’t be permanent, that he’d move in with his brother as soon as he could, Niall’s parents had sent him an owl stating that he was family and that there would always be room for him at theirs. Upon reading their letter Louis made an excuse about Quidditch practice and darted from the room, though Harry was convinced he’d gone to hide away and cry again. Harry had simply given Niall a massive hug, not letting him up until Zayn moaned at them for taking up the whole sofa.

~

The whole school seemed to turn out for the last Quidditch match of the year. It was Slytherin versus Ravenclaw and tensions were high for all the houses, apart from Hufflepuff. If either Slytherin or Ravenclaw won by two hundred and fifty points, they’d win the Quidditch Cup. If either team won by less than that amount however, the Cup would go to Gryffindor.

Safe to say, even though he wasn’t playing, Harry was feeling the pressure.

As the group of them climbed the stands, Harry soaked in the sun. It was perfect Quidditch playing weather; only a slight breeze, a high sun and clear skies. They’d opted to sit in the Hufflepuff section, as it best suited their divided loyalties. Harry was particularly conflicted.

“Argh,” he groaned as they watched the teams make their way onto the pitch. “This is the worst. I don’t know if I’m coming or going.”

“You’ve just gotta accept whatever happens,” Liam said, unhelpfully. He was waving a Slytherin flag, with a Ravenclaw t-shirt covering his chest and little lions painted on each of his cheeks. “It’s gonna be a hell of a match, either way.”

“It’s Ravenclaw’s year,” Zayn muttered as Perrie and Jade shuffled along the row in front of them. Perrie waved and pointed at her Ravenclaw badge as she sat down, giving Zayn a thumbs up.

“Thought you didn’t care?” said Niall, frowning as he tried to work out how to unlock his extendable telescope.

“I don’t care. It’s a stupid game,” Zayn said, still smiling over at Perrie, and shrugged. “It’d just be nice to see Ravenclaw win at something that doesn’t involve reading books, to be honest. Ow,” he said as Niall’s telescope extended into the back of his head.

Niall pulled a face, “Sorry.”

“Hey,” Harry interrupted. “They’re about to start. Come on, Louis!” he shouted at the top of his lungs.

Madam Tudor blew the whistle to start the match and the players rose into the air. Niall scoffed. “Know where this one’s loyalty lies, then,” he said, cocking his head towards Harry.

“No. I just, Louis didn’t play last year when Slytherin won, so it’s not the same.”

Liam shook his head, grinning, “You know, you haven’t played on a winning team either.”

“Well, I ‘spose,” Harry acknowledged. “But it’s not like I’m playing the deciding match, so I won’t feel as bad about it.”

“I’ll feel bad about still, if that changes your mind,” Niall added.

“Shut up, you lot,” Jade said from the row in front. “Slytherin are about to score.”

“Already!? Blimey, doesn’t mess about your boy, does he?”

“No.” Harry grinned and watched as Louis sped towards the Ravenclaw goal posts, Quaffle tucked under his arm. “No, he does not.”

It was almost painful to watch, Harry was nearly beginning to feel a little bad for Zayn. Every time Ravenclaw tried for a goal, they were intercepted, knocked off course by a Bludger or defeated by Greg’s Keeper skills. Forty minutes in and Slytherin were in the lead, fifty points to nil. Three of Slytherins goals had been scored by Louis himself and the crowd chanted his name every time he got his hands on the Quaffle.

After Louis scored his fifth goal, bringing Slytherin’s total up to eighty points, Harry managed to catch his eye. He gave a wide grin and jumped up, waving with both hands. Niall scratched his forehead, mumbling that Harry was an embarrassment, but Harry wasn’t bothered. Louis smiled, waving back and giving Harry a wink as he flew by.

Harry decided then that Slytherin needed to win the Quidditch Cup. Gryffindor could wait, they could try again next year, but Louis needed this. He’d had the shittiest year and Quidditch was something he loved. If Gryffindor had to lose for Louis to be happy, then so be it.

Another half an hour later and Harry’s voice was hoarse from all the screaming. Zayn was staring at the pitch, a resigned glumness settled on his features.

“Cheer up, Zayn,” Liam said, pulling the Ravenclaw into a sideways hug. “Second place wouldn’t be so bad.”

“Third,” Zayn replied.

“What?”

“If we lose this match by more than two hundred and fifty points Slytherin would be first and Gryffindor would be second. We’d be third.”

“Oh,” Liam said. “Er, still, I mean, at least you’re on the podium?” he offered.

They jumped as Harry screamed, “No!” Both teams’ Seekers were racing towards a flash of light in the sky, which could only be the Snitch. Each Seeker looked resolute, Slytherin clearly wanted to win and Ravenclaw were apparently determined for anyone but Slytherin to win. “They’re only ninety points ahead. It’s too soon!” Harry yelled at the Slytherin Seeker, Derwent.

“But look,” Niall jumped up, frantically pointing, house loyalty forgotten. “Look at Louis!”

The entire stadium seemed to notice at the same time. One of the other Slytherin Chasers had passed the Quaffle to Louis, who was now heading towards the Ravenclaw goal posts like a man possessed. If he scored before Derwent caught the snitch, Slytherin would be champions.

Harry brought his hands to his lips, muttering, “Please, please, please,” under his breath.

It happened in a heartbeat. Louis threw the Quaffle through the Ravenclaw hoops with all his might and a second later, Derwent caught the Snitch.

The noise from the stands was immense, Harry could hardly hear his own yells.

“And Slytherin win!” the commentator roared. “Two hundred and fifth points to nil, that’s an outstanding victory. Unbelievable! Congratulations Slytherin, house champions two years running!”

Harry, Liam, Niall and Zayn all bundled onto each other, jumping up and down excitedly. “Come on,” Liam said, heading towards the steps. “Let’s go down.” Students were spilling on to the pitch. Harry and the other boys, even Niall and Zayn, ran along the turf towards the Slytherin team.

“Did you see!?” Louis yelled, glee evident in every pour. He escaped from the Slytherin huddle and ran over. “Did you see!? We won! We actually won!” He looked like he couldn’t quite believe it himself.

“I saw,” Harry laughed. “You were brilliant.  _Brilliant_.”

Louis blushed as they all gathered around him, subjecting him to a bone crushing hug. When they finally let him go he was smiling so wide Harry thought it must be painful. “Thanks. I should, like, the team,” he said, pointing over his shoulder where the rest of the Slytherin team were violently ruffling each other’s hair. “You’ll come to the party? Later, in the dungeons. You know the password, right? Nobody will care. Please, I want you all there.” Everyone was in such high spirits that they didn’t think twice before agreeing.

Harry would always remember that night, at the Slytherin House Coup party, as one of the strangest and best nights of his life. Louis was happy, truly happy, surrounded by his friends and celebrating his own success.

Harry counted his lucky stars that, for some reason, Louis had chosen him.

~

After the excitement of the Quidditch Cup match it took the entire school a while to come back down again. The fifth years were helped along by the prospect of their O.W.L.s approaching nearer and nearer on the horizon.

Harry stared at his revision timetable, which Zayn had helpfully drawn up for him.

He had precisely nine days until his first exam, Transfiguration, and he felt like he knew less now than he did at the start of the year. Dread was starting to settle in the castle, in a big way. Only yesterday Harry had seen the other fifth year Slytherin prefect, Bethan Dickens, taken to the hospital wing after having a panic attack in the library.

It was a Saturday and Harry could almost taste the sunshine streaking through the windows. A Hogsmeade weekend had been arranged, though none of the fifth or seventh years had chosen to go. Instead they were camped out in various spots around the castle, heads buried deep in great paving slabs of books that they were hardly able to carry. All of the boys had gathered in the mainly deserted Ravenclaw Tower for a group revision session.

Harry always thought the Ravenclaw common room was the best place for studying in the entire of Hogwarts, ten times better than the library. That’s why Ravenclaw’s did so well, he figured. Even getting into the Tower required you to answer a riddle; today they’d been asked ‘You can have me but cannot hold me, gain me and quickly lose me. If treated with care I can be great, and if betrayed I will break.’ Harry, Liam, Louis and Niall had been waiting at the door for a full five minutes thinking about it. Even Louis had been stuck, until Liam started, “Oh! Is it – Is it ‘Trust’?”

Liam had been delighted when the door swung open and Harry and Niall shared a look over his shoulder.

The Ravenclaw Tower was large and circular, with deep blue silks hanging dramatically from the arched ceiling. It often reminded Harry of a medieval hall, all stone and statues and banners. The golden stars painted on to the ceiling seemed to twinkle down at him as he lay on his back.

He was distracted from his meditation, however, when Niall threw a scrunched up ball of parchment at him. “Hey, get your head out of the clouds,” he said.

He rolled over and reached over to where his laptop was playing out music and skipped the track. He’d had an argument with Liam earlier in the week as to whether creating a revision play list counted as revision. Liam had apparently believed not.

At that moment a group of seventh year girls emerged from the dormitories. In the group Harry recognised Liam’s older sister Rachael. She smiled and waved at all of them as she walked past. One of the other girls in the group, a slim girl with a big smile and bright eyes, giggled as she walked past. “Hi Liam,” she said, voice soft.

Liam immediately blushed deep red. “Alright, Halina.”

The group all exchanged smirking glances. Zayn waited until the crowd of girls had left the common room before he shoved Liam’s shoulder.

“Shut up,” Liam pouted in response to their unspoken question. “She’s Rach’s friend, alright? She stayed at ours for a bit last summer, that’s all.”

“Oh yeah?” Niall wiggled his eyebrows. “What you get up to then? Swimming in the lake? Long walks in the country? Double dates at the moviema?

“Cinema,” Liam corrected, automatically.

“Sorry?”

“Nothing. Maybe do some more Muggle Studies revision.”

“Liam’s got a girlfriend,” Louis sang, teasing and they all laughed. Louis’ singing was cut short, however, when Liam threw a cushion at him.

A new song started playing from Harry’s laptop.

“Who’s this then?” Louis asked, recovering from the cushion attack.

Harry shrugged, “Don’t ask me, Liam put it on there.” He nodded to Liam, whose face was still slightly redder than usual.

Liam coughed. “It’s this band, right?” He shifted so he was sitting against the foot of the sofa. “So, there’s this Muggle Show called ‘The X-Factor’ and it’s a music competition. These guys came, like, third, I think? Couple of years ago now. They’re really good.”

“It’s like the Muggle version of ‘Music is Magic’,” Harry said, leaning over to borrow Louis’ ink.

“What?” Louis laughed. “’Music is Magic’ is so rubbish. Why do Muggles have one?”

Harry braced himself. “What?” Niall yelled. Or got as close to yelling as Niall ever did. “I live and die for that show,” he said to Louis seriously. “It  _is_ my summer holiday.”

Louis let out a disbelieving sigh. “You’re all barking,” he said, shaking his head.

“Don’t worry. This summer, Louis, I’ll bring you ‘round.”

Zayn, who had been studiously ignoring the conversation, pulled Liam away at that point to compare answers on the mock question they were both doing.

“Speaking of summer,” Louis said, turning the page of his textbook. “I got an owl from Quentin this morning. He says he and Philippa have found a house they like. Apparently they’re just going through the motions now. He reckons they’ll have it by September, so I’ll be out of your hair.”

“I like having you in my hair,” Niall replied. “Sounds good though. What’s he said, your brother, about the whole thing?”

Harry raised his head to look at Louis as he answered. The Slytherin took a breath. “He’s been really cool about it, actually. I don’t know why I’m so surprised, it’s not as if mother and father were any better towards him but, I dunno, I thought he might try to, you know, take their side.” He smiled, “But he’s been really great. I don’t think we’ve ever spoken so much as we have done recently.

Niall nodded, “That’s good then.”

“Yeah.”

Harry leant closer, “’Course he’s on your side, Louis. He loves you.”

Louis ducked his head, “Yeah. It’s just, I didn’t really realise until now.”

What felt like hours later Harry’s hand was cramping from writing so much. He groaned into his elbow. He was pretty sure he’d just read the same sentence four times. “Why can’t we just go to Hogsmeade? Just for an hour? It’d be a good break. It’s the last trip of the whole year.”

He was mostly ignored. Louis deigned to respond to him, “Doesn’t matter. We can go next year. We have to pass these exams.”

“So you think that if I go to Hogsmeade, I’ll fail all my O.W.L.s, simple as that?” Harry asked, petulantly.

“You’re being dramatic, Harry. Again.” Harry frowned. Louis was clearly spending too much time with Zayn, the Ravenclaw was rubbing off on him. “Now,” Louis continued, shoving another book towards Harry. “Stop gazing all wistfully at the horizon and concentrate on, you know, succeeding in life.”

Niall cackled as Harry sighed, dejectedly, opening the book. “Merlin,” he said. “You don’t want much, do you?”

He felt a little better when Louis turned to him, cheeky smile on his face, and said, “No. Just you will do fine.”

Harry grinned at the same time Liam grumbled, “You disgust me.”

~

He was running out of breath. He skidded around the corner, the screeches of the Occamy following him down the corridor. He turned to look over his shoulder and saw the snake-bird creature hot on his heels. Facing forward again he noticed that he was in the kitchens and ran to the high shelves at the side of the room, hiding from the monster. Just then, he heard the cackle of laughter, realising in horror that all the house-elves were laughing and pointing at him. “Quiet,” he said, desperately. “Stop laughing, it’ll find me. Be quiet.”

He jerked awake and blinked owlishly as Niall’s face came into focus, poking through the curtains at the end of Harry’s bed.

 

“It’s today,” Niall said ominously and he quickly withdrew his head.

Niall was right. It was today. The first of June. The start of a fortnight of O.W.L.s. Harry groaned and pulled the covers up over his head. He’d take Occamies chasing him and house-elves laughing over this any day of the week.

With everyone gathered outside the Great Hall, the reality of it all was getting a bit much for Harry. He felt vaguely ill. Finding a solid wall to lean against he took a look around at his friends. Louis was sat on the floor, leaning against the wall next to him. He had his eyes closed and was muttering under his breath, wand clenched tightly in his hand. Harry couldn’t tell whether he was going over everything they’d revised or just willing himself to do well.

Across the way, Niall was sitting cross-legged on the floor with sheaves of parchment laid out in a semi-circle around him. He was staring at each page in turn, cramming as much information in as he could. Liam and Zayn were huddled close together, with Perrie burying her head into Zayn’s chest in apparent despair. Didn’t seem like a bad plan, Harry thought to himself.

Down the line he saw Poll curled up in a ball, her head between her legs as a few of the other Gryffindor girls rubbed her back. The only group that looked even remotely calm were the other Ravenclaws near the back. They looked almost bored.

All too soon Professor Wolff stepped into the Entrance Hall, directing them through the door to their Transfiguration theory exam. Harry walked to his seat as someone would to the guillotine, with dignified acceptance of what was to come. There was nothing he could do now. His fate was set.

He watched as people sat down around him. Louis walked past to find his desk at the back, giving Harry a double thumbs up as he went by. In front of him, Greg took his seat, legs sticking out either side of the small exam table. Jade was sat behind him and Harry could hear her tapping her feet nervously against the floor.

Professor Wolff stopped at the front of the hall, directly in front of a gigantic hour glass that had been brought in, Harry assumed, especially for the exams. “You may begin,” his booming voice echoed around the room and immediately the hall was filled with the sound of papers shuffling and quills scratching.

Harry stared down at his paper.

_Explain the wand movement traditionally partnered with the ‘Avifors’ incantation and its modern variations. (6 marks, plus 4 marks)_

Huh, he thought. He knew the answer to that, he and Louis had gone through it last week down by the lake. He glanced up quickly to see quills moving rapidly across desks. He dipped his quill in his ink and set it to the parchment. Maybe this wouldn’t be too bad after all.

With the first exam under their belt, the rest seemed to fly past.

A personal highlight for Harry was the Divination practical. He spent the majority of his time looking on in horror at Niall, who was stationed near the front, trying to push down a bubble of laughter. His examiner was not impressed in the slightest but he honestly couldn’t help it. Niall was staring into the fire he’d conjured with a fierce determination that Harry had never seen on his face before. It was only marred, however, by the shock and panic that replaced it when the fire raged out of control. It burned through the examiners table and singed his eyebrows. The whole exam had to be adjourned for ten minutes as Professor Bones and Professor Albion got the flames under control.

“But pyromancy, honestly,” Niall reflected afterwards. “Who thought that would come up? I don’t understand why they let people who don’t have the Sight even do it. It’s just embarrassing.”

Strangely, both Harry’s best and worst exams were Potions. He breezed through the practical with a worrying ease. He was so concerned when he finished brewing his potion with fifty minutes left to go that he almost convinced himself he’d done it wrong and decided to start again. However, after rereading the instructions so many times he knew them by heart, he persuaded himself that he’d got it right. He vialled up and submitted his potion to the examiner, with a relieved sigh. As he left the Great Hall he passed Liam, who was sweating profusely, though his potion looked to be the right colour and consistency.

The Potions theory exam was a whole other story, however. It was the last scheduled exam for the entire year and, if he was honest with himself, Harry’s mind wasn’t on the job. In his head, he had already finished; he was by the lake, dipping his toes in the cool water. He was on his broom, flying circles around the castle turrets. He was in the common room, curled up on the sofa with Louis tucked into this side. He was anywhere but in the Great Hall having to write an essay on a) the development of and b) the counter measures for undetectable poisons. It came as no surprise to him that when Professor Debussy called out, “Quills down,” and summoned their papers to the front, he’d only filled about a third of the space given to him.

There was a run for the door. As students gathered in the Entrance Hall and the chatter bounced off the walls the relief and joy was almost tangible.

Harry practically skipped over to Liam, Louis and Zayn. He pulled them all into a group hug, blurting out indiscernible words of relief. Niall walked over to the group several moments later, high fiving people as he went. When he spotted them, he raised both fists over his head in celebration and said, “Thank fuck that’s over.”

Harry couldn’t agree more.

“We did it! It’s done! I can sleep again!” Liam almost sobbed.

“Nice one lads,” Louis grinned. “Now, who’s up for a spot of ‘who can get to the courtyard the fastest’?”

“Me. Always me,” Harry laughed and they set off, grins stuck to their faces.

~

“I was thinking, like, if we started here,” Harry pointed to the map, his finger landing on the west coast, somewhere near San Francisco. “We could work our way back, you know?”

Louis nodded, squinting and leaning closer to get a better view of the map. It was a huge roll of parchment, which they’d spread out across a corner of the courtyard, both sitting on top of it to examine the section they wanted. It was a fantastic document, with cities and towns across the world glowing, as though they were looking down on earth from far out in space.

“Yeah,” Louis nodded, his fingers travelling across the parchment as he traced their journey. “We could even do a sort of circle, if we wanted.”

Zayn walked over to the two of them. As he stepped onto the map, for some reason, he made every effort to avoid the land masses. Maybe he thought he’d squish someone, Harry thought.

“What’s going on here, then?” he asked, holding his hand over his eyes to protect himself from the sun.

“We’re working out a possible route for our adventure across America. You know, for after we leave school,” Harry said, leaning his neck back to bring Zayn into view.

“Bit premature, isn’t it?”

“A bit of planning never hurt anyone,” Harry shrugged. “What do you want, anyway?”

Zayn raised his eyebrows. “Charming. I came to ask if you guys were coming down to the lake. Everyone’s going down there now. It’s gonna be, like, a group party of something.” Zayn’s tone made it sound like he thought a group party was the dullest idea in the world but Harry knew by now that Zayn often appeared to mean the exact opposite of what he actually thought.

“Oh,” Louis said, excited. He jumped up and flicked his wand. “Sounds brilliant.” Harry and Zayn had to scramble off the map as it folded itself up into a heap and planted itself in Louis’ open palm. “Just give me two minutes, I want to dump my stuff in my dorm.”

“You can use mine, Louis. It’s nearer,” Harry offered.

“Yeah, alright. Thanks.” He was just about to rush off when he spotted Greg across the courtyard. He turned back to the two of them. “We should invite Greg!” he said and without waiting for a response he ran over to the other Slytherin boy. “Greg,” he shouted. “Greg.  _Gregory_.”

Greg shifted his position on the wall so he was looking at Louis as he approached. “Alright, Tommo?” he said, smiling at the other boy. It occurred to Harry that he’d never seen Greg smile like that around anyone else. It must be something that Louis dragged out of him.

“Hey, man,” Louis said, slapping Greg’s leg. “All the fifth years are going down to the lake. You coming? You’d be more than welcome, I promise.” Harry was reminded of something Louis said at the beginning of the year, about the rest of them not inviting Slytherins anywhere. A pang of guilt rang inside him as he realised that, apart from Louis, that hadn’t really changed. He vowed to do better in the future.

Greg pulled a face. “Nah, you’re alright, mate,” he said. “I’m waiting for Thalia anyway.”

“You’re no fun,” Louis pouted. He turned to Harry and Zayn, “Right, I’ll see you down there in a bit, yeah? Don’t have fun until I get there!”

It was then, as Harry watched Greg watch Louis walk away, that he suddenly realised.

“Are you in love with him?”

Zayn’s head shot around to look at Harry. Judging by his expression anyone would think that Harry had lost his mind. If Greg was shocked by the question, though, he didn’t show it. He carried on flicking his gaze through the passing crowds of people.

“I love him,” he said eventually. “I’m not in love with him. Maybe it would have happened, at some point, but,” he shrugged. “Never going to now, is it? Not with him making heart eyes at you every second of the day.”

Harry could see Zayn’s mouth literally drop open in his periphery. He was saved from having to provide a response however by Greg’s girlfriend Thalia, who arrived at that moment, all fiery hair and white, toothy smiles.

“Hi, babe,” she greeted, eyeing Harry and Zayn in a not unfriendly manner. Harry smiled weakly as she took a seat next to Greg. She gave him a small wave back.

“So,” he started, a little awkwardly. “Like, we should probably head off. Um, I’ll see you ‘round, I guess,” he said, somewhat unsure.

The two of them walked down to the grounds and Harry resolutely ignored Zayn’s questioning looks for the entire journey.

They spent the entire, glorious afternoon by the lake. Harry laid back on the cool grass and brought his harmonica to his mouth, playing lazily. He smiled as everyone laughed and played around him. Everyone was there; Liam and Louis were seemingly trying to drown each other in the Great Lake. Niall, Ed, Perrie and Jesy were all gathered in a circle, Niall playing the guitar and the rest of them singing along, occasionally bursting into fits of giggles. Zayn was with Castor, perched on a rock near the edge of the water. They were pointing into the depths, clearly having a serious discussion about whatever lay beneath.

Harry stifled a laugh as he spotted Ravenclaws Leigh-Anne and Larisa conspiring with Poll behind the rock. They had a bucket in their hands and, as he watched, he saw Poll creep up behind Zayn and Castor, poised to pour it’s contents over their heads.

“Room for another?” Louis’ voice asked from behind him. Harry turned and missed the moment where Zayn got drenched. He heard the screams though and spun round to see Zayn and Castor trying to bodily drag Poll into the water with Leigh-Anne and Larisa laughing from the side lines. “Poor Zayn,” Louis sympathised. “That’s ruined his hair. It was on top form today and everything.”

Harry smiled. “You alright?” he asked, pulling the Slytherin boy down beside him.

“I’m all wet,” said Louis, resisting. He wasn’t wrong. His trousers were clinging to his legs and his t-shirt was all but transparent. But, Harry thought, it made for quite a nice sight.

“I don’t care,” he said. “I want a hug.”

Louis relented, shaking his head, a smile twinkling in his eyes. “You’re a weirdo.”

They came together like breathing, their lips moulding to each other. Harry sighed as he licked his way into Louis’ mouth. The other boy’s skin was cool under his hands and Harry relished the touch. Every time they kissed, it still felt new and exciting. Sometimes he wondered if Louis felt the same; like he never wanted to let Harry go. After several unrushed minutes they broke apart, the sound of laughter from the others still ringing in the background.

Louis bit his lip, looking down at the ground. “You sure you’re alright?” Harry asked, nudging him gently. “You seem quiet.”

“Yeah. I’m just – I’m just thinking about my family. My parents.” He gave Harry a guilty smile. “I don’t know what they’d say if I told them I was planning to ride a broom across America.”

Harry brought his hand up to cup Louis’ cheek. “It doesn’t matter what they would say. They’re not your family anymore. These guys are,” he said, nodding towards the laughing group of students. “Us and your brother. And you our family too.”

Louis ducked his head, resting it against Harry’s neck. Harry felt Louis’ breath across his skin as the other boy said, “You just wanna make me cry again, don’t you?”

Harry let out a laugh. “That’s right,” he said, hugging Louis to him. “You caught me.”

~

Harry had never been one to be afraid of farewells, but as the end of year feast came closer, he couldn’t deny that he was feeling a little unsettled. This was it. This was the end. He’d had one of the most exciting, terrifying and educating years of his life. He wouldn’t change it for the world.

Not _all_ of it.

He let out an almost pained groan as he stared at his half packed truck.

“Harry, come on, what is it now?” said Louis, clearly exasperated. “The feast starts in –” he looked down at his watch, “fifteen minutes. How can it take you this long to pack? Just shove it in!”

Harry whined again. “No, Louis, there’s an art to it. I don’t want anything to get, you know,” he looked up at the other boy. “Squished.”

Louis slumped back to lie down on Harry’s bed. After a second he stood up again, taking the shirts Harry was holding out of his hands and leading him towards the dormitory door. “I’ll help you after, yeah? If you miss the feast, you’ll kick yourself.”

He couldn’t really argue, so Harry just let himself be guided down into the common room and further still, all the way to the Great Hall.

When the two of them entered, they had their hands clasped together and Harry jolted when Louis pulled away. Louis grinned. “This is me,” he teased, nodding towards the Slytherin table.

“Oh, right. ‘Course,” Harry muttered. He pressed a light kiss to Louis’ cheek and the other boy smiled before spinning on the balls of his feet and walking over to his table.

Harry headed to his own table, joining his fellow Gryffindors Niall, Ed, Castor and Jesy near the top end. Castor and Jesy were already arguing about who was going to win the House Cup. He had barely been sitting down for more than half a minute when Louis crouched down between him and Niall. Harry jumped in his seat when the Slytherin poked at his side.

It was at that moment that the Headmistress began to walk to the front of the hall and Harry was distracted by the clacking of her heels.

“Harry,” Louis whispered, though his voice seemed to carry across the entire hall. “ _Harry_.”

He turned to face Louis, all too aware of the dozens of people now looking at them. “What do you want? It’s about to start,” he laughed.

Louis shook off his disapproval. “I forgot to tell you earlier, I’m such an idiot,” he said. “I got an owl this morning; from my  _grandma_.”

“No way.”

“Yeah, and she said that she was going to come visit me at Niall’s!” Louis beamed at him, Harry could almost feel the joy radiating off him. “Isn’t that cool? And she –”

“Good evening, students,” the Headmistress said, now at the podium. “Another year’s over…”

“Oh, bugger,” Louis rushed. “I’ll see you after.” He tiptoed back over to the Slytherin table, crouched down to hide from view. He was so obvious, though, Harry couldn’t help but laugh.

Professor Turnstone’s eyes followed him across the hall as she carried on her speech, “… and thank you to all the prefects for their continued hard work in making this school as good as it can be.” She paused, smiling at the sea of students. “Right,” she said, clapping her hands together. “Now onto the only thing any of you are really interested in; The House Cup.”

A wave of murmurs washed across the Great Hall. The House Cup had been a close run thing this year, the lead changing every few weeks. The last time Harry had checked Slytherin were in the lead, but the giant hourglasses that kept track of house points were always cloaked the week before the end of term, so the winner was a surprise.

“Without further ado, then,” the Headmistress said, raising her voice over the crowd. “In fourth place, with three hundred a sixty-four points, Ravenclaw.”

Harry clapped his hands, turning his head towards the Ravenclaws. For the most part they seemed to be accepting their fate easily. Zayn spotting him looking and shrugged, smiling pleasantly.

“It’ll be because of Rollo,” Niall said, leaning close to Harry’s ear. “He probably lost a shed load of points for attacking Larisa.” Harry hummed, turning back to the front.

Professor Turnstone cleared her throat. “In third place, with three hundred and eight-nine points,” she paused and Harry cringed. “Gryffindor.”

“Ah, bollocks,” Ed cursed across the table.

The rest of the hall were applauding politely. Harry looked ahead of him to see Jesy fixing him with a glare. He elbowed Niall. “Seriously, Jesy,” Niall groaned when he saw what she was doing. “We’ve said sorry, like, a thousand times! I’ve been doing extra work to try and get points back,” he whined. “Extra work!”

Jesy took a deep breath before smiling widely, “I’m only messing, Horan.” She laughed, “Your face. Priceless.” Niall scowled at her.

The applause died down and Professor Turnstone spoke again. “Yes, congratulations, Gryffindor. Valiant effort. In second place, then, with four hundred and eight-three points, Slytherin.”

The hall erupted with noise. In all honesty, most of the cheering was probably for Hufflepuff, not Slytherin, but Harry could pretend. He stopped short when he saw, further down the Gryffindor table, James Potter clapping enthusiastically, a warm smile on his face. He followed the younger boy’s eye line and his gaze landed on Albus and Scorpius, both of whom were cheering loudly across the room.

He grinned when he spotted Louis mouth, “So close,” and roll his eyes at Liam, who was jumping up and down in the aisle. To be fair to him, Hufflepuff hadn’t won the House Cup since they’d been at Hogwarts, so it was a pretty important result for the house.

“Well done, Slytherin,” the Headmistress said, breaking into a smile. “And so, with four hundred and ninety-seven points, the winners of the House Cup are Hufflepuff!” she said, the cheers echoing off the walls still. She pulled her wand from her sleeve and gave it a flourish. The silk banners hanging from the Great Hall ceiling transformed from the Hogwarts crest to the Hufflepuff emblem, the Hufflepuff badger adorned in yellow and black.

Harry gazed up at the ceiling. The sun was setting outside and the roof of the Great Hall copied perfectly the vivid reds and oranges that were painted across the sky.

The noise eventually died down and Professor Turnstone started the feast proper, food springing up onto the golden plates covering the tables.

As everyone around him tucked into their food, Harry took a moment to reflect. He soaked in the sound of Niall’s unruly laugh next to him. He could see Zayn talking animatedly to his little sister, his face lighting up as he spoke. At the Hufflepuff table Liam was listening intently to something Perrie was saying. It must’ve been interesting, as the prefect looked about as impressed as Harry had ever seen him.

Then there was Louis.

Louis, who was lovely and gentle and sweet. Louis, who deserved so much more than he had. Louis, who loved him. The Slytherin was chatting happily with Greg. Albus Potter was sitting at his other side, staring at him like he was the next messiah. Harry sympathised. He knew the feeling.

He looked down at his plate, sighing contentedly. If someone were to ask him, right that second, how he was feeling about his life, he reckoned he’d have to give a horrifically soppy answer. All was well, or something like that. If fact, when he really thought about it,  _if he was really being honest_? In that case, he’d have to say that all was absolutely bloody fantastic.

The End

_No story lives unless someone wants to listen. The stories we love best do live in us forever. So whether you come back by page or by the big screen_ , _Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home._

\- J. K. Rowling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I would like it to be known that I have now spent far more time on Harry Potter Wiki and Harry Potter Lexicon than is probably healthy. I bloody love Harry Potter and I thought I knew everything about the universe, but when I started to write this I realised how horribly, horribly wrong I was.
> 
> The title is taken from the beautiful song ‘Samson’ by Regina Spektor. 
> 
> p.s. If you enjoyed this I’d recommend you read the two fics below, as well. They’re both One Direction Hogwarts AU’s and are definitely worth a read.  
> Harry Potter AU by The White Toymaker at http://thewhitetoymaker.tumblr.com/harrypotter  
> where we go, nobody knows by hazmesentir at http://archiveofourown.org/works/1121275/chapters/2259593 (WIP)


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